Iron Fashion · 2026
Aphros Transformable Bottomwear
by Ke Jiang
- A' Design Award 2026 in Fashion
- CLIENT: Divine The Shop
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 11,891
- Verification code 3A6BB38E61 · Verify this award
Colors
About Aphros Transformable Bottomwear
Aphros is a modular fashion system featuring a sculpted bodysuit with Victorian-inspired sleeves and interchangeable bottom pieces. Designed for sustainable versatility, it enables seamless transition from casual to formal wear through its innovative connectable design. The garment integrates technical materials and embodies a narrative of transformation and adaptive elegance.
About the A' Design Award
Aphros Transformable Bottomwear is an Iron A' Design Award winner, a prestigious recognition granted to good designs that meet the professional and industrial requirements expected from well-designed creations. Iron winners demonstrate great skill, high specialization, expert understanding, and creative capacity of their creators. Aphros Transformable Bottomwear is expected to be a highly regarded, admired, and cherished creation that is practical and innovative. This Iron A' Design Award-winning design integrates industry best practices and has competent technical characteristics linked with know-how and talent. Aphros Transformable Bottomwear is respected for its thoroughness and is designed to provide quality of life improvements that help make the world a better place.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Aphros is a transformative fashion system centered on a sculpted, techinfused bodysuit. Its core innovation lies in modular versatility: the minimalist lower body serves as a base for infinite styling, from tailored trousers to evening skirts, redefining sustainable elegance. Victorian-inspired sleeves and scalelike mesh merge narrative depth with cutting edge materiality, offering a single garment that adapts to modern life’s diverse contexts.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The garment utilizes stretchknit technology with biobased elastic yarns, offering adaptive fit for wearers between 160-180cm height. The modular connectors employ magnetic attachment systems compatible with various bottomwear components. Lasercut mesh overlays are precision-engineered to 0.5mm thickness, while the sculptural sleeves incorporate lightweight foam internal structures for volume retention. The entire system is designed for machine washability and modular disassembly.
- Tags
- Transformable Fashion, Modular Clothing System, Sustainable Design, Victorian-inspired Sleeves, Mermaid Mythology, Convertible Garment, Versatile Styling
- Production Technology
- Aphros is constructed using advanced seamless knitting technology for the stretch cotton base layer, ensuring second skin comfort and precision fit. The Victorian inspired sleeves employ sculptural tailoring with internal boning and foam structuring, while the scale like mesh overlay is laser-cut from sustainable polymer textiles. Modular connectors are integrated via magnetic fastenings, allowing effortless interchange of bottomwear components. The translucent polymer elements are thermoformed to body contours, combining couture craftsmanship with wearable-tech innovation.
- Design Challenge
- Aphros bridges French romanticism, expressed through its dramatic sleeves, with contemporary wearable needs. While the initial proposal of bold sleeves with ultra-short bottoms challenged local aesthetic preferences, we introduced a convertible one piece system. This adapts to diverse styling contexts, aligning with modern women's demand for both functionality and expressive elegance.
- Research
- This project combined market research and material experimentation to address the need for versatile, sustainable fashion. We aimed to create a garment that reduces overconsumption while adapting to various lifestyles. Through user interviews and wear-testing prototypes with women in urban environments, we gathered feedback on comfort, style flexibility, and usability. Insights revealed strong demand for modular clothing that balances aesthetics with function. The research directly informed Aphros’s interchangeable system, influencing both its design and ethical mission—offering a practical yet innovative solution that promotes conscious consumption in daily life.
- Inspiration
- Aphros draws inspiration from the metamorphosis of a mermaid ascending to land, a metaphor for adaptability and identity transformation. The vision was to create a sustainable, versatile garment that empowers personal expression across contexts. Technically, it integrates advanced translucent polymers for second-skin comfort and modular construction, reducing wardrobe volume while elevating aesthetic and functional elegance through narrative-driven innovation.
- Project Duration
- The concept was initially conceived during studies in Paris in 2015. Development continued following the establishment of my studio in Beijing, with the design finalized in 2022. The piece debuted through Swiss brand Divine The Shop and is currently available via the D2C (Designer to Customer) platform in China.
- Operation Flow
- Aphros works like a core piece you build upon. The top stays on as your style base. To change your look, you simply snap off the current bottom piece and attach a new one—like switching accessories. You can go from daytime pants to an evening skirt in moments. It performs better because it reduces closet clutter, supports sustainable fashion, and offers endless outfit possibilities with one intelligent garment.
- Patents
- Copyrights belong to Ke Jiang, 2025.
Patent Pending. Patent Holder: Ke Jiang. Jurisdiction: China. - Image Credits
- Image #1: Illustrator Ke Jiang & AI, Aphros Main Look, 2022.
Image #2: Detail Photographer Ke Jiang, 2023.
Image #3: Styling Photographer Ke Jiang, 2023.
Image #4: Styling Photographer Ke Jiang, 2023.
Image #5: AI Visualization Designer Ke Jiang, 2025.
