soft goods Archives - Interwoven

A Q&A with Technical Designer Ryu Tomita

This month’s Spotlight turns to Technical Design — the quiet, intricate work that transforms ideas into products that actually perform. We sat down with Ryu Tomita, a former member of the Interwoven team and one of the most precise technical designers we’ve had the pleasure of working with.

Ryu’s career bridges industrial design, soft goods, wearables, and fashion, his strength lies in the details: how materials behave, how components integrate, and how thoughtful engineering elevates user experience. In this conversation, he reflects on his path, his process, and the craft behind technical design.

Q:

You’ve had a really dynamic career, spanning fashion, industrial design, soft goods, and wearables. What originally drew you into design, and what keeps you excited about it now?

A:

I’ve always just loved making things—assembling pieces, figuring out how they fit together, and then seeing something take shape from nothing. That’s really the common denominator across all those fields. You start with an idea you can’t fully see yet, and through the process you discover what it becomes. That moment when everything comes together is incredibly satisfying. That’s what pulled me into design in the first place, and it’s still what keeps me excited about the work today.

Q:

When you think back on your time at Interwoven—it’s been about four years now, which is wild—what are the projects or moments that really shaped you? What have you carried into your current career?

A:

Definitely HeroWear and working on the Apex. I had no idea what to expect because we were designing a product none of us had ever seen before, and we had almost no information in the beginning about what it should ultimately be. We had to research everything: going into warehouses, understanding what the end users were doing, what they needed, and how a solution might actually support them.

From there it was really just creating something step by step, little by little, and trusting the process—that if we kept working, we’d eventually land on the right product. Embracing that unknown, and not being afraid of it, was a huge learning experience for me.

***Ryu’s time at Interwoven taught him to design through ambiguity — a skill that continues to shape how he approaches complex technical challenges today.***

Q:

Do you still approach your work the same way today—observing the user, embracing the unknown, and figuring things out step-by-step?

A:

I don’t have as many opportunities now to do direct user observation, but yes—the mindset is still the same. Embracing the unknown and taking things one step at a time was such a valuable lesson, and it’s something I still rely on in my work today.

Q:

What’s one thing people often misunderstand about the work of a technical designer?

A:

People sometimes get caught up in the tiny details and forget that technical designers always have to hold the big picture. You have to step back and think about how everything will come together and what the overall goal is—not just where a piece of Velcro lands. Remembering that bigger vision is really important.

Q:

How would you define technical design for someone outside our industry? People don’t always understand how valuable it is or how it differs from concept design or styling.

A:

Honestly, it’s hard to define because so much of it happens in your head. But for me,

Q:

Why do you think technical design matters, especially in categories like wearables, medical devices, and soft goods?

A:

Everyday items require a lot of thought because people use them constantly. Even something simple—like a belt or a holster—needs a slight curve so it hugs the hips instead of sitting straight. Those small decisions make a big difference when something is worn daily. Technical design is what makes those details functional and comfortable in real life.

Q:

You’re known for being incredibly detail-oriented—something I always appreciated in your work ethic. How does that mindset translate into the work you do now compared to more conceptual work?

A:

Believe it or not, I’m not as detail-oriented as I used to be. Things move so fast here that I’ve had to learn to let go of some of the minutiae. But I still think details are incredibly important. In tailoring, for example—where the hem goes, how the fusible is shaped inside a sleeve—those choices really affect how the final garment looks and performs. Even when the big picture matters more, the details still play a role in shaping the outcome.

Q:

Do you have an example—without breaking any NDAs—of a project where the details really drove the success of the design, or where you had to let go of details?

A:

I do, actually. I’m looking at the sample right now. We were working on a pleated dress, and the director wanted it to fit closely around the hips. With individually pleated pieces, it’s much easier to sew everything straight. But if you add a small dart to each pleat, the dress hugs the body much better. It was more work for the seamstresses and definitely more tedious, but it made a noticeable difference in the final result.

Q:

When you start a new project with big technical unknowns, where do you begin? And how is that process different from the product-focused work you did at Interwoven?

A:

Fundamentally, it’s the same. You lay out all the pieces, look at the sketch, and try to understand the big picture first—how the shape forms, where you need more volume, how things come together. Then you work through the smaller issues as you see the prototype.

The difference now is scale. In fashion, I’m working on collections with 120–140 styles, split between two people, instead of a single deep-dive product. But the mindset is the same: start broad, then solve the details.

Q:

What kinds of fabrics or garment types do you prefer working with?

A:

Wovens. I’ve learned to appreciate them more. Knits can be easier because there’s less room for error, but I work with both.

Q:

Tell me about your iterative process. How do you move from prototype to final sample?

A:

We usually make an initial prototype in a comparable fabric—we almost never use muslin. We fit it, review it, and make adjustments. If there’s a major design change, we start over. If not, we refine it and then move into a final salesman sample.

Q:

How much of the pattern work do you handle, and how long does a garment take?

A:

I draft from start to finish. A simple dress with four or five panels might take two and a half to three hours. A jacket could take three-quarters of a day to a full day. It really depends on the style.

Understanding the hidden architecture of a product — whether a wearable or a tailored jacket — is where technical design becomes almost invisible, yet absolutely essential.

Q:

Most people don’t realize how much inner structure goes into a tailored garment. Can you walk us through that?

A:

I didn’t realize it either until I opened up a men’s jacket. There’s a lot inside: canvas, padded chest pieces, Heimo, shoulder pads to hold the shape, sleeve structuring, and fusible layers that add support.

The heaviest structure is on the upper body—chest and shoulders. Fusible can run through the whole front and usually across the back shoulder blade. Anywhere there’s a turned hem, you’ll often find fusible to hold the shape.

Q:

Is that construction similar between men’s and women’s garments?

A:

The sewing is similar, but the fit is completely different because of physiological differences—especially the bust. You have to alter patterns significantly to account for that.

Q:

Can you give an example of a small technical detail that makes a big impact?

A:

A two-piece sleeve. People don’t notice it, but it feels so much more natural because the sleeve can actually follow the bend of your arm. A one-piece sleeve is basically a tube—it doesn’t guide the arm forward in the same way.

Q:

What’s next for you? What are you exploring personally right now?

A:

I’ve been experimenting with denim washes at home—doing potassium permanganate treatments on my patio, which is probably dangerous but fun. There’s so much science behind wash techniques that I never knew. I’m not inventing a new wash, but I’m trying to create my own personality in how the denim wears and ages.

Q:

What advice would you give to young designers starting out in technical design?

A:

I’d say it’s important to keep one eye on the bigger picture while you’re deep in the details. You have to be able to zoom out and look at the whole garment or product, then zoom back in to solve the small problems. It took me a while to learn that balance, but having both perspectives is essential.

Q:

Last question: if you had to start all over again, would you still choose to be a designer?

A:

Yes, absolutely.

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Check out the rest of our Spotlight series to hear more from leaders in the design industry. Sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn for design news, multi-media recommendations, and to learn more about product design and development!

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Soft Goods, Smart Care: Designing the Next Generation of Medical Wearables

The Stakes of Medical Design

Designing for the medical field is unlike designing for any other industry. Here, the stakes are measured not just in performance or user satisfaction, but in people’s health, safety, and wellbeing. A device that fails to deliver comfort or reliability isn’t just inconvenient, it can directly affect quality of life or clinical outcomes. Medical design demands a balance of precision, empathy, and usability.

At Interwoven Design, we specialize in working at this intersection. Our team combines expertise in soft goods and hard goods, bringing together textiles, mechanics, and electronics into products that are as wearable as they are functional. From early research to final prototyping, our focus is on creating medical wearables that fit seamlessly into people’s lives—solutions that are technically robust, clinically sound, and human-centered by design. In this Insight article we will outline the unique considerations of medical design, our approach to designing medical wearables, the challenges and opportunities inherent in this area of the design industry, and three case studies of medical wearables that showcase the value of Interwoven Design’s human-centered approach.

Why Medical Design Is Unique

Medical design brings a set of challenges and responsibilities that set it apart from other categories of product development. Every decision, from material selection to interface design, must be made with an acute awareness of the user’s physical and emotional context, as well as strict regulatory and clinical requirements.

Regulatory Context
Medical devices are subject to rigorous approval processes, with agencies such as the FDA or EMA requiring extensive validation and documentation. This means that every design decision must be defensible, testable, and aligned with compliance standards, not only to achieve certification but also to ensure long-term patient safety.

Emotional Context
Unlike consumer wearables, medical products often enter a user’s life during moments of stress, vulnerability, or recovery. Designers must anticipate not just the functional needs of patients and clinicians but also the emotional impact of the device. A poorly considered interface or material can heighten anxiety, while thoughtful design can build confidence and trust.

Usability Context

For a medical device to be effective, it must be intuitive to use, not just for patients but also for clinicians, caregivers, and sometimes even first responders. Accessibility, clarity, and ergonomics are not “nice to haves” but essential design principles. This often means extensive rounds of testing and iteration to make sure that products can be used correctly and consistently, even in high-pressure situations.

Together, these contexts shape a design discipline that is both technically demanding and deeply human. It’s this balance of rigor and empathy that drives successful medical innovation.

Designing for the Body and for Care

At Interwoven Design, we see medical wearables as more than devices, they are extensions of the body and tools for care. Designing them requires an iterative, human-centered approach that prioritizes the user at every stage. Prototyping is central to this process. Early models are tested not just in the studio but in real-world conditions, allowing us to observe how products perform during daily routines, clinical use, or extended wear. This cycle of making, testing, and refining ensures that each design evolves in direct response to user needs and feedback.

Industrial Designers Working on Knee Brace

Ergonomics, hygiene, and comfort are treated as non-negotiables. Materials must withstand the realities of long-term use, remaining breathable, easy to clean, and gentle against the skin. Attention to these details transforms functional devices into trusted companions for the people who rely on them. Every strap, sleeve, or modular component is designed to accommodate movement, protect sensitive areas, and support extended wear without fatigue or discomfort.

Collaboration drives the process forward. We work closely with clinicians to align with medical best practices, with engineers to ensure technical performance, and with end users to guarantee that the product is intuitive and usable across contexts. By integrating insights from soft goods design, we go beyond wearable devices alone, creating patient safety garments, rehabilitation aids, and hybrid systems that bridge clinical care and consumer wellness. Our expertise allows us to design accessories, support systems, and healthcare environments that not only meet functional requirements but also enhance comfort, confidence, and dignity.

The result is a wearable or healthcare system that not only performs its intended medical function but does so in a way that feels natural, safe, and empowering for the user, extending the body, supporting care, and enabling better health outcomes.

The Challenge (and Opportunity) of Medical Wearables

Medical wearables are evolving rapidly, from rehabilitation devices to continuous monitoring systems and preventative tools. While their potential to improve health outcomes is immense, designing these products presents a unique set of challenges. Unlike conventional consumer wearables, medical devices must integrate electronics, mechanics, and textiles into a seamless system that functions reliably in clinical settings, daily life, and even high-movement scenarios.

At Interwoven Design, our specialty lies in creating soft goods that feel natural against the body while incorporating hard goods—sensors, actuators, structural supports—that deliver precise performance. Every strap, sleeve, or interface must balance technical requirements with comfort, fit, and intuitive usability. A device that performs flawlessly but feels awkward, restrictive, or irritating will quickly be abandoned by the people who need it most.

Long-term wearability adds another layer of complexity. Medical wearables often remain in contact with the skin for hours or even days, requiring careful attention to materials, pressure distribution, and ventilation. Devices must support patient mobility, prevent injury, and integrate seamlessly into clinical protocols, all while maintaining hygiene standards and durability.

These challenges, however, are also opportunities. By addressing the intersection of comfort, ergonomics, and performance, Interwoven Design can create medical wearables that are not only clinically effective but also empowering and dignified for the people who use them. Our integrated approach ensures that each product functions as an extension of the body, helping patients and clinicians alike achieve better health outcomes through thoughtful, human-centered design.

Case Studies: Medical Design in Action

Interwoven Design’s work in medical wearables and healthcare soft goods spans a wide spectrum, from patient-focused therapeutic devices to clinician-centered support tools. Each project demonstrates how thoughtful design can bridge the gap between technology, the human body, and the demanding realities of healthcare environments. Whether stabilizing a catheter for heart failure patients, creating a flexible armband for continuous glucose monitoring, or integrating back support into a utility bag for nurses, our approach remains the same: combine clinical insight with human-centered design to deliver solutions that are safe, functional, and comfortable for real-world use.

Case Study 1: Nuwellis Device for Aquapheresis Therapy

Interwoven Design partnered with TKDG and Nuwellis to design a wearable solution that improves the patient experience during Aquapheresis therapy, a treatment used to safely remove excess fluid in people with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF). For patients already navigating a fragile health condition, maintaining catheter stability is critical: dislodgement, vein compression, or accidental interference can compromise treatment and patient safety.

The Design Challenge

The goal was to create an external arm stabilization device that protects the catheter while remaining comfortable enough for extended wear. The solution needed to work across different patient anatomies and treatment contexts, from resting in bed to moving around a hospital room, without restricting mobility or adding undue burden.

Our Approach

Through research with clinicians and patients, we identified key risks such as poor arm positioning, excessive elbow bending, and unconscious interference with the catheter site. These insights guided the development of multiple wearable prototypes designed to protect access points, promote healthy blood flow, and maintain comfort. Materials like Baymedix® froth foams were chosen for their softness, breathability, and ability to reduce pressure on the skin.

Impact

Clinical feedback highlighted two standout prototypes that offered strong catheter protection while preserving freedom of movement. Follow-up testing confirmed that these designs maintained vein access and minimized risks during therapy. By combining thoughtful ergonomics with material innovation, Interwoven Design delivered a solution that reduces complications, improves patient confidence, and supports more effective treatment outcomes.

Case Study 2: Senseonics Continuous Glucose Monitor

Senseonics is advancing diabetes care with the first long-term, implantable continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system, designed to measure glucose levels for up to 90 days compared to the five-to-seven-day lifespan of most existing systems. Interwoven Design partnered with the Senseonics team to design the external armband that houses the system’s electronic component, ensuring comfort and reliability for everyday use.

A model wears a black and black armband.

The Design Challenge

The armband needed to balance durability, security, and comfort for wearers managing diabetes around the clock. From moments of high activity to periods of rest and sleep, the device had to stay securely in place without causing discomfort or drawing unwanted attention.

Our Approach

We developed a flexible, two-part band featuring a seamlessly knit inner layer and a reversible over-cuff. This design gave users both comfort and choice—adjusting for security, flexibility, and even color preference—while ensuring that the device remained unobtrusive during daily activities.

Impact

The resulting armband delivers a secure, user-friendly solution that integrates naturally into the wearer’s lifestyle. By prioritizing comfort and adaptability, the design supports Senseonics’ mission to make glucose monitoring easier, more accurate, and less intrusive for people living with diabetes.

Case Study 3: Whitecloud Medical Utility Bag

Whitecloud Medical set out to solve two everyday challenges faced by nurses and medical technicians: back strain from strenuous lifting and the need to carry essential supplies throughout long shifts. Interwoven Design partnered with Whitecloud to design and prototype a first-of-its-kind product that combines a supportive back brace with a utility bag, purpose-built for demanding healthcare environments.

The Design Challenge

Medical professionals often lift patients, maneuver equipment, and push gurneys, all while carrying syringes, bandages, and other tools in overloaded pockets. This combination leads to back strain, discomfort, and inefficiency. Whitecloud’s founders, medical professionals themselves, envisioned a wearable solution that could ease physical strain while keeping supplies accessible.

Our Approach

We designed a modular waist pack and back support system that functions as one unit but allows flexibility in use. The bag slides around the belt for quick access to supplies or can be secured over the back support during strenuous movement. Both the bag and the back support can also be detached and used independently. Interior compartments include a fold-down main pocket for medical tools and a rear pocket for personal items, streamlining organization.

Impact

The Whitecloud Medical Utility Bag provides healthcare workers with reliable back support and accessible storage in a single wearable solution. By combining ergonomics with practical functionality, the design reduces strain, improves efficiency, and directly responds to the daily realities of clinical work.

Designing Confidence Into Care

Medical design is about more than solving functional problems, it’s about building trust, safety, and dignity into every interaction. From stabilizing a catheter during Aquapheresis therapy to creating flexible wearable monitors and clinician-focused utility solutions, the challenges are as much human as they are technical. Through rigorous testing, iterative prototyping, and a deep commitment to human-centered thinking, Interwoven Design ensures that every product performs reliably while feeling intuitive, comfortable, and approachable in real-world use.

Our expertise in seamlessly combining soft goods and hard goods gives us a unique advantage: we can craft wearable medical solutions that are both technically sophisticated and thoughtfully tailored to the body. Every strap, sleeve, or modular component is designed with the user’s comfort, mobility, and safety in mind.

We invite clinicians, medical device companies, and innovators to collaborate with Interwoven Design to create medical products that not only meet clinical standards but also resonate with the people who use them every day. Designing for care means designing for confidence, and that is a principle at the heart of everything we do.

Interwoven Design is a design consultancy that is positioned at the intersection of soft goods and wearable technology, creating products that function with the body and offer comfort as well as the superb performance that arises through the innovative incorporation of rigid, often electronic and responsive elements. Sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn for design news, multi-media recommendations, and to learn more about product design and development!

Soft Goods Outdoor Performance: Designing for Movement

Outdoor hiker carrying soft goods backpack designed for performance — *Movement is not just about motion. It’s about the rhythm between who we are and what we carry.*

In outdoor product design, soft goods are changing the way we think about movement for outdoor performance. The way our bodies move is more than a single action. it’s an ongoing and dynamic process—a conversation between the body, the environment, and the gear we carry.

Whether you’re hiking rough trails, adjusting your straps mid-walk, setting up camp, or navigating a city, every small motion tells us something. The body is asking for support, and good design should respond. As soft goods designers, we understand these movements and study the interaction between the human and the products they wear and carry. In recent years, soft goods—like backpacks, wearable gear, and modular carry systems—have begun to challenge the old idea that “hard equals safe.” These products are no longer built to be stiff and rigid. Instead, they are designed to move with the body, to adapt in real time, and to feel like a natural part of us. This shift doesn’t reduce performance—it changes how we define it. Performance today means adapting to movement, supporting dynamic actions, and keeping us comfortable across changing situations combined with ease of use. This article explores how soft goods in outdoor performance are reshaping gear to better support how we move.

Soft Doesn’t Mean Weak—It Means Smart

Soft materials are not weaker. They’re more nuanced. In outdoor soft goods, fabrics like ripstop nylon, waxed canvas, X-Pac, spacer mesh, and soft shell textiles aren’t just about coverage—they enable movement, compression, ventilation, and adaptability.

Compared to hard materials like ABS plastic or rigid foams, soft product design offers more breathability, compressibility, and responsiveness. For sports product design—trail running, climbing, or mountain biking—this translates to reduced fatigue and more natural alignment with the body. When the Interwoven Design soft goods team worked with Shark/Ninja on the design for the Frost Vault Soft Cooler, we created a soft goods strap prototypes that improved user comfort and interaction. The soft structure adapts to shifting weight and varied terrain, giving users comfort and agility without sacrificing durability.

Body-First Design: A Dynamic Ergonomics

At Interwoven Design, we call this approach “body-first design.” It’s a core principle that guides how we develop soft goods across industries—but it’s especially critical in outdoor performance. Traditional ergonomics often focuses on static posture or ideal alignment. But when you’re hiking, climbing, crouching, or transitioning between urban and natural environments, what the body really needs is flexibility, freedom, and real-time responsiveness. This is where soft goods design can make the biggest impact—by allowing the product to adapt to the user, not the other way around.

User adjusting the shoulder clip on a HeroWear exosuit for ergonomic fit — *A close-up of HeroWear’s modular shoulder system — designed to adapt to diverse body types with intuitive adjustment and soft-structured support.*

Soft goods outdoor performance products are built to move with us. Think shoulder straps that naturally rotate and contour with your shape instead of fighting against it. We applied this thinking in our work with HeroWear’s Apex 2 exosuit, designing padded straps and soft interfaces that reduce pressure points and accommodate shoulder rotation, ensuring all-day wearability for users engaged in repetitive movement and lifting. The harness flexes without bunching and adjusts easily to fit a wide range of body types—an essential feature in any gear meant for motion.

Waist packs are another area where body-first design shines. In our collaboration with White Cloud Medical, we developed a soft goods waist pack for their wearable wound care system. It was designed to securely house a medical device while allowing users to bend, sit, or shift their weight without discomfort or slippage. The soft structure conforms to the lower back and hips, using strategically placed foam zones and breathable mesh to maintain stability without sacrificing comfort—mirroring the dynamic adaptability you’d expect in a trail running or trekking belt.

Back panels also matter. In our work with Saber, we helped develop a lightweight and flexible exosuit that assists soldiers with moving heavy loads, where the back interface needed to support both agility and load-bearing performance in extreme conditions. The back panel was constructed with contoured foam, airflow channels, and an adaptable frame sheet, all layered under soft but durable outer textiles. These components worked together to mold to the user’s back, distribute weight evenly, and reduce fatigue during long missions—providing the kind of responsive support critical in both combat and outdoor expedition scenarios.

Close-up of hands adjusting the zipper on a Perci motion-support vest — *Designed for emergency readiness, the Perci Vest uses ripstop fabric and intuitive closures to support quick response in high-stress situations.*

The Perci Emergency Preparedness Vest that we developed for Invicta Ready, takes this philosophy into urban contexts. Designed to help families be ready for natural disasters as a quick grab and go tool, it features a modular system of pockets and zones tailored to the store critical equipment needed in an emergency while no inhibiting the motion of the upper body. Each element was placed to balance weight while avoiding key flexion points like the shoulders and underarms, allowing wearers to reach, twist, and carry without restriction.

In all of these examples, subtle design decisions—curved seams, flexible materials, layered zones—add up to a dramatic improvement in comfort, usability, and performance. This is what we mean by body-first design: a commitment to soft goods that move with you, not against you.

Beyond the Trail: Lessons from Outdoor to Medical Soft Goods

What we learn from the trail informs other areas where motion matters—especially in healthcare and wellness design. Medical soft goods must also move with the body, respond to user feedback, and adapt to changing conditions.

Two views of the Breg CrossRunner soft knee brace being worn and opened on a leg — *The Breg CrossRunner™ soft knee brace uses breathable stretch fabric and adjustable hinges to support motion while adapting to different body needs.*

Take the Breg CrossRunner™ Soft Knee Brace. Though not an outdoor product, it demonstrates how principles from soft goods outdoor design translate to medical wearables. We worked with Breg to combine modular support with breathable Breathefit™ stretch fabric and Airmesh® zones for ventilation. The adjustable hinge system lets users tailor their range of motion, providing support without restricting freedom—just like in performance-oriented outdoor gear.

In both cases, we’re solving the same challenge: designing for bodies in motion.

The Future of Soft Goods Prototyping: Material Meets Movement

The rise of soft goods prototyping has unlocked a new frontier in performance product development. Today’s soft goods designers must go beyond creating surface forms—they must understand how every layer, stitch, and seam behaves under real-world conditions. It’s no longer enough to build a shell that looks good. Soft product design demands an iterative process of testing, refinement, and material engineering—guided not just by aesthetics, but by how the product moves with the body over time.

At Interwoven Design Group, we approach soft goods prototyping through progressive fidelity. We start with quick mockups—cut-and-sew foam, muslin, and low-cost textiles—to evaluate scale, placement, and range of motion. These early models help us identify design issues and ergonomic conflicts quickly. As the concept evolves, we move into digital patterning, custom material selection, and full-scale physical builds that test dynamic fit, load management, and wear resistance. For complex systems like outdoor soft goods and medical soft goods, this phase is critical to ensure durability without compromising comfort or flexibility.

In a recent internal concept study, we explored how combining 3D sandwich mesh with multi-zone sewing templates could deliver a high-performance pack system. Our goal was to optimize three conflicting performance needs—water resistance, targeted stretch, and long-wear breathability—while keeping the product suitable for mass production. Through layered material construction and strategic paneling, we were able to achieve localized compression in some areas, flexible articulation in others, and vented airflow across the spine. The result was a prototype that moved in sync with the body, responded to environmental shifts, and met the standards of scalable manufacturing.

This kind of hybrid thinking—blending digital design tools, soft goods construction methods, and performance testing protocols—is essential to what we call craft-forward innovation. It’s not just about making something look sleek or futuristic; it’s about knowing how textiles behave in motion, how seams influence structure, and how users physically interact with the product hour after hour. This approach helps us build smarter, more resilient outdoor soft goods, sports product designs, and medical wearables that align with real human needs—not theoretical assumptions.

By designing in layers and working across both digital and analog prototyping, we make sure that the products we develop don’t just function—they feel right. From backpacks and vests to wearable medical systems, every decision in soft goods design has a ripple effect on how people move, feel, and perform. Our prototyping methods make those connections visible and actionable, laying the foundation for soft goods that are technically sound, user-centered, and ready for real-world use.design itself.

Final Thoughts: Movement Is the Measure of Meaning

At Interwoven Design Group, we believe that soft goods design is where performance meets empathy. Whether you’re scaling a ridge, navigating a commute, or recovering from injury, soft goods should support—not dictate—how you move. As soft goods designers, we don’t just make gear. We create systems that listen, flex, and evolve with the user.

From outdoor gear to medical soft goods and wellness wearables, designing for motion is not just a method—it’s a mindset. One that values flexibility over force, collaboration over control, and experience over assumption.

We look forward to working with makers, researchers, and brands to shape the next generation of soft goods—smarter, more adaptive, and deeply human.

Please reach out!

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Check out the rest of our Insight series to learn more about the design industry. Sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn for design news, multi-media recommendations, and to learn more about product design and development!

Design News N. 035

Design News is your tiny dose of design, technology and other important news, curated monthly by Interwoven Design. In this issue we take a dive into sustainable protective head gear, chocolates inspired by biomimicry and marine life, a new cement-like material from repurposed seashells, our new adaptive lingerie and a new platform connecting plastic alternatives with designers and developers!

Protective Headgear Made of Seashells

The Shellmet is a protective hard hat manufactured with a combination of discarded shells and recycled plastic. Plastics manufacturer, Koushi Chemical Industry, along with TBWA\Hakuhodo Agency have collaborated to conceive a piece of safety equipment from the most commonly eaten shellfish in Japan. According to TBWA\Hakuhodo, not only is the shellfish the most commonly eaten by people in Japan, but one fishing community alone produces 40,000 tons of scallop shell waste! Koushi Chemical Industry’s material, Shellstic, is made by sterilizing, crushing, mixing with plastic and pouring it into a mold. The material can also be colored allowing the Shellmet to be offered in multiple colors. The product’s aesthetic features use biomimicry and pull a “ribbed structure” inspiration directly from the attributes from which it is made. These attributes increased the Shellmet’s durability by 30% during testing. And if that wasn’t enough, the helmet can be recycled into a new helmet or repurposed into building materials!

via Dezeen

‘Chocoral’ Bites Inspired by Coral Reefs

Melissa Pérez Puga, a Mexico-based industrial designer, has found the similarities between the process of making nonedible materials and chocolate. By utilizing 3D printed molds, and inspiration from marine biology, the designer has created coral reef shaped chocolate pieces. To complete the beauty of the product, Puga designed colorful packaging that also connects with marine life. The designer explains that ‘Chocoral’ aims to bring more appreciation to the texture and beauty of the coral species. The Chocoral boxes are categorized and sold depending on the percentage of cocoa in each package: 30%, 50% and 70%. Each of the packaging is designed with a differentiation factor that allows chocolate lovers a way to determine which to purchase!

via Design Boom

New Sea Stone Material

Our second repurposed seashell material on this month’s Design News is that of Newtab-22. Dubbed Sea Stone, the new material is made from discarded shells that are ground down and mixed with a non-toxic binding material that enables the creation of a concrete-like texture. The aesthetic attributes of the grinded shells adds a seemingly terrazzo finish, while also having the ability to add dye doloring. As previously mentioned, hundreds of millions of tons in seashells are thrown away every year and while some are recycled, the majority end up in landfills or on beaches. Newtab-22 explains that their ambition to help repurpose waste from the seafood industry led to the creation of a sustainable alternative to concrete, due to their similar properties. Currently, the process of grinding shells is done manually to avoid use of energy. There are some limitations due to the need of heat to ensure durability, but currently the Newtab-22 team is focused on applications where the material best fits while keeping the process as sustainable as possible.

via Dezeen

Even Adaptive Lingerie

Even Adaptive Lingerie designed by Interwoven is soon to launch! Even Adaptive is a line of adaptive undergarments with contemporary silhouettes that can be put on with the use of a single hand. The design process spanned all the way from creation of the brand strategy and assets, to hardware and garment development. Interwoven Design Group developed a new fastening clasp to replace and improve the user experience of the outdated closure mechanisms of the adaptive bras and panties on the market. The closure experience combined with the modern, comfortable, and colorful designs make Even Adaptive lingerie truly inclusive, innovative, and one-of-a-kind.

via Interwoven Design

A Plastic Planet Launches PlasticFree

This month, we had the opportunity to attend A Plastic Planet’s online platform, PlasticFree, launch event! PlasticFree is a database that connects designers, architects and developers with sustainable alternatives to materials. One problem that designers have when sourcing material is the plethora of information that leads to dead ends with the inability to pinpoint a specific material let alone accurate information that includes properties and production. This new tool allows users to collect Plastic alternatives virtually, in a mood board style, from all around the world. All of the data collected on PlasticFree has been verified by a team of scientific advisors. This allows designers to bridge the gap between design and material science while having access to digestible information. Moving towards a world where a package’s or product’s full life cycle can be planned, shifting away from the negative connotations of consumerism!

via PlasticFree

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Soft Goods Prototyping

Soft goods design is its own special area of the design industry, and soft goods prototyping is similarly unique. At Interwoven Design we specialize in soft goods, so we make a lot of these prototypes. The process we use is particular to our studio, and to demonstrate why we like this method we’ll explain what is special about soft goods prototypes and walk you through the steps. This prototyping method can become a powerful tool even for designers who lack textile and sewing experience.

What is a soft goods prototype?

Prototyping is an iterative process and starts with a combination of 2D sketches and 3D mockups. these first “prototypes” are to quickly asses a design idea and are used to study volume, form, access points and closures. Once the form is starting to become refined we then progress onto a higher fidelity mock-up. this article explains how we go from a paper mock-up to a fully resolved prototype that serves as a model for manufacturing. We call this final model a “high fidelity prototype”. It looks like a new product that is ready to take home and use.

The ability to create a high fidelity prototype from a pattern is the goal of soft goods prototyping.

The goal of the soft goods prototyping process is to develop a pattern that will result in a consistent, high fidelity end-result as well as to create that result to demonstrate the viability of the pattern. A key stage in this process is making a Muslin.

What is a Muslin?

We will use “Muslin” with a capital M to indicate the soft goods industrial design mock up in a basic textile as compared to the basic cotton “muslin” fabric that most often used in this process. A Muslin is a model of the design that has been sewn up in low resolution fabrics, not using final textiles, colors, or hardware. It is a specific stage of the soft goods prototyping process that helps us to test the accuracy and quality of our pattern before using final materials. A Muslin is a tool on the journey to developing a compelling prototype that allows us to work out any issues with the design before moving to final materials. It may or may not be literally sewn in muslin fabric, though it often is.

A Muslin (with a capital M) is a critical tool for testing the accuracy and suitability of a soft goods pattern.

The Brown Paper Pattern-making Method

But how do we move from a drwing and fast mock up to a pattern from which we can cut a Muslin? We use a process called the Brown Paper Patternmaking Method to create our soft goods patterns, a method developed by Interwoven Design’s principal designer Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman. In this method the designer sculpts a full scale model of the desired soft good in brown craft paper, marks it up, cuts it apart, and creates a pattern with it that is then sewn up and tested for accuracy and performance.

We’ll walk through the steps and show some examples to demonstrate the key concepts, but here is the overview of the process:

Create a refined design drawing
Sculpt a full scale craft paper model from the drawing
Add seam lines, grain lines and cross marks
Cut the model apart to create pattern pieces
Transfer the craft paper pieces to pattern paper
True the patterns and add seam allowance
Transfer the pattern paper pieces to muslin
Sew up a Muslin and make any necessary adjustments to the pattern
Sew up a final high fidelity prototype

The Steps

1. Ideate to create a refined design drawing. This process should involve 2D and 3D sketches to develop your design concept. Think about hardware, colors, and final materials as you create this drawing. Your design drawing should be a detailed and refined schematic that serves as a blueprint for the model making that will follow. While some refinement will be possible in future stages, the drawing should be as close to a final design as possible.

A refined design drawing considers the final form, materials, colors, and features of the design.

2. From the design drawing, sculpt a full scale model in brown craft paper with masking tape or painter’s tape. Craft paper behaves a lot like a textile while holding its shape well, which is why we use it for this method. Creating the initial model is the most difficult step of the entire process. If you can get this step right, the rest of the process will flow naturally. Any adjustments that need to be made to the original concept will be made here. Anything represented in your sculpted model will be transferred to the final model, so make sure it is what you want.

Here are a few tips:

Starting from the “base” – sculpt the form of the model so that it looks as close as possible to the finished design – it should be the same scale and shape a your concept
Only use tape you can draw on. Use as much as you need.
Draw on your model as needed to show every detail: curves, closures, straps, pockets, handles, etc.
Refine your sculpture until it is airtight and exactly the form you want.
Edges should meet neatly with minimal to no overlap.

The full scale model in brown paper should be neatly and precisely constructed.

3. Once you are satisfied that the object fits and functions as desired, draw seam lines with a fine tip Sharpie. Be sure to consider how 3 dimensional shapes will be created by joining flat pieces of fabric and draw a seam where the flat pieces join. Think of how a basketball, baseball or tennis ball are made from flat pieces to create spheres. A noter good tips is to look at your own soft goods possessions to see how they are constructed.

Seam lines determine the practical construction of the form.

4. Mark grain lines (north-south lines that denote the grain of the fabric from which the bag will be made) on each of the brown paper model pieces. Add cross marks and labels to each of the pattern pieces. Cross marks will act as guides to rejoin the pattern pieces once you separate them.

Think of a pattern as a puzzle in 3 dimensions, create a guide for yourself so you can put the puzzle together again. Cross marks are markings perpendicular to the seam lines that show where the components created by the seams connect. Give each of your pattern pieces good, descriptive label and be sure not to duplicate label names. You can use photos to capture the construction and make a map of how the pieces fit together.

6. Cut the brown paper model apart. Be careful to cut the seam lines as straight and as neatly as possible. Use scissors or an Exacto knife to cut with precision and using a metal ruler where applicable to also help create clean lines.

IMPORTANT TIP: If your bag is symmetrical only cut the right half of the bag and leave the left half intact. You will be able to “reflect” your pattern to make a perfectly symmetrical pattern from only ½ of your model.

Adding grain lines, cross marks, and component labels ensures that you will be able to recreate the form once it is cut apart.

7. Transfer the brown paper model pieces onto pattern paper. Double check that all of your seam lines are the same length by “walking” your seams on top of each other. This is “trueing” the pattern and ensures that the pattern will fit together with smooth seams when it is sewn up. Seams that are not the same length will not sew together correctly. There will be too much fabric on one side, and the final model will be messy. This can be avoided though careful review at the pattern stage. Be sure to transfer labels and cross-marks to the pattern paper. Once the pattern is reviewed for accuracy, add a seam allowance of ½”.

Cut with clean, careful lines to get the most accurate pattern possible from your model.

8. Transfer your pattern pieces to muslin (or your chosen mock-up fabric) and cut. In the studio, we use wax transfer paper and a tracing wheel to transfer the pattern accurately to the muslin. but you can also cut out the pattern pieces and trace them onto you fabric.

Accuracy and care is needed at every stage of this process to make sure the final result reflects the original model.

9. Sew up a Muslin and assess thoroughly. The Muslin is a test of your pattern, it allows you to resolve any issues before creating the final prototype. On the Muslin, you can add zippers, trims and plastic hardware so you can test how things work and feel. Make any adjustments needed and transfer them back to the pattern.

Once an initial Muslin is sewn and assessed, a second or third might be created to further refine the design. These changes are updated in the pattern.

10. Finally your pattern is ready for final fabric. Transfer the pattern to the back side of the final fabric, cut it out and sew up a high fidelity prototype in final materials. This final model proves the quality and viability of your pattern and it should look like it could be purchased and used immediately.

Once the Muslin demonstrates the viability of the pattern, a high fidelity prototype can be created.

Try it!

While it takes time and attention to use the Brown Paper Pattern-making Method, it is a wonderful way for those unfamiliar with pattern-making to create original patterns that can provide consistently professional results. Do you have a soft goods design idea you’ve wanted to bring to life? Try this prototyping method!