Unfortunately named women‘s wear retailer DressBarn is slamming the door on 650 retail stores in 45 states as sales decline and branding loses focus.

Barn Storm

DressBarn made its debut in 1962 – a time when American women were flooding into the workforce and unlike the era’s Mad Men, had a limited choice of workwear options from which to chose from. Founder Roslyn Jaffe’s bright idea was a hit then… but a Misses now. Kudos to Flickr member Mike Mozart for the two images above taken in early April of 2014.

Agri Culture Wars

In 1982 the company was listed on NASDAQ (symbol DBRN) and in 2011 the reorganized firm was renamed Ascena Retail Group, Inc. DressBarn was flying high… or was it? By almost any measure, the American economy has been on a roll for the better part of the past decade. Yet on May 21st of 2019, Ascena announced the imminent closing of all 650 DressBarn stores. By the way, Flickr member stevetursi‘s image above illustrates what must be the cheesiest “corporate headquarters” we’ve ever seen. Just sayin’.

Not Makin’ Hay

The announcement deals a haymaker (pun intended) to roughly 6,800 employees with the pain spread nationwide as DressBarn has stores in 45 states. “This decision was difficult, but necessary,” explained Steven Taylor, chief financial officer of Dressbarn, “as the DressBarn chain has not been operating at an acceptable level of profitability in today’s retail environment.” One might say management is closing the (Dress)Barn door after the horse has escaped but that would be too obvious, so we won’t. The store above, located in Torrington, CT and snapped by Flickr member JJBers in mid-2018, appears to be getting the jump on the mass-closing.

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Dis Dressed Dressbarn Buys The Farm

In countries where walking barefoot is the norm, these durable shoes that grow with a child’s feet can improve health, confidence, even school attendance, according to The Shoe That Grows project from Because International.

Fast-growing feet have always been a problem for children, and is even more challenging in places where families can’t afford frequently purchasing pairs. A combination of velcro and fasteners helps allow these shoes to expand on demand — each pair can shift between five sizes (with three different starter sizes).

The group works with non-profits, schools, churches and individuals to bring this adaptable footwear to kids in need around the world. So far the organization has distributed 120,000 pairs in 91 countries.

“Without shoes, children are especially vulnerable to soil-transmitted diseases and parasites that can cause illness and even death. Children who get sick miss school, can’t help their families, and suffer needlessly.

“And since children’s feet grow so quickly, they often outgrow donated shoes within a year, leaving them once again exposed to illness and disease.”

These kinds of clothing innovations are also not limited to shoes. Ryan Yasin, at the time a master’s student in London’s Royal College of Art’s Innovation Design Engineering program, was likewise inspired to create outfits that would grow with a child. He started experimenting and realized that by pleating synthetic fabric in a particular pattern, it was possible for a piece of clothing to stretch in both directions. One of his early prototypes was able to be used from the age of 6 months up to 36 months, saving parents the cost and hassle of forever buying new jackets.

NASA’s latest futuristic textile is made of metal but can fold and change shape, protecting a wearer (or covered craft) from dangerous collisions that could tear holes in people or ships.

The woven metal is made up of a squares on the surface that are linked together on the back, but thanks to clever manufacturing the entire system can be created at once (rather than stitched together). With printers sent into space, this means astronauts could recycle and rebuild the material for different applications on demand.

“We call it 4D printing because we can print both the geometry and the function of these materials,” explains Polit Casillas. “If 20th century manufacturing was driven by mass production, then this is the mass production of functions.”

Developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, this versatile textile has thermal protective properties as well, able to to keep machinery and people warm. Despite its flexibility, the mail retains a high tensile strength and can reflect or absorb light for heat control depending on which side faces outward.

Borrowing logic from the 3D printing industry, Kniterate lets users turn ideas and designs from digital files to one-off wearable garments in hours. Able to “print” shirts, scarves, sweaters, dresses and more, the machine is aimed at enabling customized creations as well as rapid prototyping.

Compact, portable and affordable, the gadget itself links into computer and mobile apps – creatives can build out ideas in Photoshop, build them in Kniterate’s device-specific application, then send them to straight to production with the touch of a button.

The application comes with a number of preset patterns that can be used but the intuitive interface is also designed to allow for easy from-scratch creations, even by people with limited digital design experience. Even in cases there the final product will be made via other methods or materials, this machine allows for iterative design experiments to test size, fit and styles.

The system is also designed to reduce waste from off-cut materials, printing with the exact amount of material needed to make a particular piece. The device can carry up to six yarns at a time to span an array of colors and materials – it is also made to be compatible with off-the-shelf yarns, making it more flexible and affordable than printers (often designed to make money from material sales rather than the machines themselves).

A Berlin art collective has taken to the streets, inking urban infrastructure and laying down shirts and tote bags to create a line of unique prints … their patterns directly lifted from city streets.

Raubdruckerin (AKA Pirate Printer) press apparel to painted manhole covers, utility grates, etched signage, vents and other objects that have depth differences (and thus themselves to the relief-printing process, like woodcuts or letterpress).

The group rolls out different colors of ink, much as one would with any kind of etched or raised printing process, then lays cloth down and applies pressure. Depending on the size and type of the object in question, the prints are partial or complete pictures of a given urban artifact.

The crew has traveled to Amsterdam, Lisbon, Paris and other iconic cities to capture some of their least-noticed but still-beautiful urban artifacts, transferring overlooked parts of these places to a new style of streetwear. Naturally, each one is a little different – even when the same street fixture is used, the re-inking process results in variegation from one print to he next (via Colossal).