clothTag

Prof. Sangmin Bae and his team (Lim Yuree, Stacy + Sohn Seongki + Jeong Huikyung + Park Hyejin) from ID + IM Design Lab have designed clothTag, an “RFID tagging for your clothing life.” The team is the red dot award winner of 2007:

“Clothing could be a lot smarter with clothTag – a clothing tag that stores and communicates information about the clothing to which it is attached.

clothTag uses RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device) technology for identification and interaction with other objects, such as smart mirrors in shops, as well as with washing machines, steam irons, closets and clothes hangers, as shown in the illustrations. Beyond these devices, clothTag has unlimited possibilities for application.

The information stored and communicated is helpful to the user, and includes general laundry treatment, colour, size, material, and colour codes. clothTag is also designed to give the user information even if the user doesn’t have a reader device; the circuit of the RFID tag can form four traditional laundry icons. The water washable icon (1), acid washing icon (2), ironing icon (3) and size icon (4) are available. The form of the circuit gives the outline of each icon group and the manufacturer can print out corresponding details of each icon on the tag.

clothTag also gives information about materials used in the cloth. The bottom bar indicates name of materials and percentage of each material used. A colour chip is provided in the middle of clothTag. The main colour and exact colour code of the cloth is printed on the tag, so the user can choose the exact colour he or she wants.”