Garments that grow along with kids?

Children outgrow their clothes almost as fast as their parents replenish their wardrobes. This phenomenon is, of course, viewed as bane or boon depending on the shopping proclivities of the parents. However, there is no doubt that these fast redundancies — often enhanced by the eager efforts of family and friends to keep the little ones in properly fitting clothes —increases wastage. Kidswear companies would obviously disagree, but they better watch out as their worst nightmare may come true: clothes that grow with their wearers. And all because of out-of-the-box thinking by a young aeronautical engineer, Ryan Yasin, who noticed toddler relatives fast outgrowing clothes.

Applying his knowledge of carbon fibre — that folds into tiny panels to fit into satellites, only to expand and hold its structure when released in space — to make origami-inspired kids’ outerwear in a pleated synthetic fabric that also burgeons as the child grows, is brilliant.

His ingenuity will definitely be appreciated by thrifty parents if not by the fast-fashion industry, considering his soon-to-debut range aims to fit three-month-olds to three-year-olds and will also diversify into natural materials. But given the strong fashion-consciousness among children these days, will our little darlings agree to wear the same garment for years? Very unlikely.