Abstract
Body-shaping garments establish form through mechanical action at the textile-body interface: corsetry through rigid reinforcement and lacing, elastic shapewear through elastomeric recovery. This study shifts attention from how a textile acts on the body to how its form develops and is organised before application to the body. The Zonal Elasticity System (ZES) is a moisture-activated self-forming system based on differing moisture-responsive behaviour within bonded cotton-linen assemblies. Twenty-four specimens across three phases examined how grain orientation, cut topology, constraint geometry, bond routing, pre-stress, and interlayer coupling directed deformation towards a defined waist region. Connected cut units propagated deformation across the field, and bias orientation with rotating-cell geometry supported in-plane shear and diagonal extension. Boundary closure and interior bonds directed deformation towards the waist axis, while pre-stress altered the resting configuration and produced an observable restoring response. Measured across the waist axis, activated specimens narrowed to between 54 and 81 per cent of their original width. Six three-layer specimens extended the principles through the textile thickness. Together, the findings provide a geometric framework for directing moisture-activated self-forming behaviour in layered woven textiles.
Keywords
Structural elasticity; Cut topology; Constraint architecture; Zonal force generation
DOI
10.21606/TI-2026.159
Citation
JIRYIS, I.,and Blonder, A.(2026) Soft Shaping: Zonal Elasticity in Layered Woven Textiles, in Jane Scott, Sophie Skach, and Rebecca Stewart (eds.), Textile Intersections 2026, 17-18 September 2026, London, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/TI-2026.159
Conference Track
researchpapers
Included in
Soft Shaping: Zonal Elasticity in Layered Woven Textiles
Body-shaping garments establish form through mechanical action at the textile-body interface: corsetry through rigid reinforcement and lacing, elastic shapewear through elastomeric recovery. This study shifts attention from how a textile acts on the body to how its form develops and is organised before application to the body. The Zonal Elasticity System (ZES) is a moisture-activated self-forming system based on differing moisture-responsive behaviour within bonded cotton-linen assemblies. Twenty-four specimens across three phases examined how grain orientation, cut topology, constraint geometry, bond routing, pre-stress, and interlayer coupling directed deformation towards a defined waist region. Connected cut units propagated deformation across the field, and bias orientation with rotating-cell geometry supported in-plane shear and diagonal extension. Boundary closure and interior bonds directed deformation towards the waist axis, while pre-stress altered the resting configuration and produced an observable restoring response. Measured across the waist axis, activated specimens narrowed to between 54 and 81 per cent of their original width. Six three-layer specimens extended the principles through the textile thickness. Together, the findings provide a geometric framework for directing moisture-activated self-forming behaviour in layered woven textiles.