Making perfect garments remotely. A Padua startup founded in 2021 by two women thought of it Roberta Ostellari and Paola Griggio (mother and daughter). One hundred and eighty seconds to take, with maximum precision, body measurements in any place. From home, from the office, from a shop: just wear the special wearable measuring device, the suit Prokedownload an app and you’re done.
“The secret of Proke, a service for taking measurements remotely, lies precisely in this: putting together maximum precision, accessibility and usability to allow anyone to detect and share their body measurements,” he tells us Paola grey founder of Proke. “Combining convenience and precision to allow the customer to enhance their uniqueness in just three minutes. Each and every one of us has our own physical characteristics and peculiarities, we are in fact unique pieces.
The History of Proke, tradition and innovation
But let’s take a step back. Proke, portmanteau of “process bespoke” (tailor-made process) is not only an innovative idea that aims to leave its mark in the world of fashion and, more generally, clothing, but it is also a entrepreneurial history totally Italian, with multiple facets, first and foremost inclusive.
During the pandemic Roberta Ostellari, 71 year old, seamstress and pattern maker, had to deal with the impossibility of creating her tailor-made garments. She therefore asked her daughter for help Paola Griggio, engineer and entrepreneur, to find a solution to the problem. And so Paola, graduated in Telecommunications Engineering, with a doctorate in Photonics from the University of Padua and a fortnight’s experience in medical technologies (has developed more than 20 patents), accepted the challenge thrown at her by her mother.
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How did you “ground” the idea? “With a multidisciplinary team we started working on finding a solution that was useful for customers and companies – he explains Paola grey –. It was a long process, but we ended up creating a wearable meter: a Lycra suit equipped with sensors that met all our expectations. The wearable meter, the Proke Suitwhich can be sent to the customer’s home, or kept in a shop or company: in three minutes it collects the measurements of the person wearing itcreating a perfectly matching avatar.”
“And it is precisely this uniqueness of people, also made up of our imperfections, the final answer returned by Proke’s measurements. A technology totally “made in Italy”, easily exportable on a large scale and around the world: with Proke anyone can receive a perfect garment made in our country. A highly sustainable solution, which we have already patented in the European Union and the USA: we are already in contact with many companies in the sector”.
How the wearable suit works
Proke allows the customer to see a personalized garment made, with a perfect fit or tailor-made without having to leave their home. For both physical and online stores, however, with Proke the errors that can be made in manual measurement are eliminated, consequently reducing finishing work and returns.
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Not only that: thanks to Proke measurement, the development of new garments and products by manufacturing companies can be made more efficient, reducing the number of prototypes and any errors. Precision guaranteed by technology Proke therefore allows optimization of production efficiency. By reducing the number of items discarded or to be remade, the Proke suit contributes to a more virtuous use of materials and resources. With a careful eye, therefore, on environmental sustainability.
Not only that: thanks to the detection carried out through the wearable meter you can reach customers remotely from your store, avoiding long journeys. The precision guaranteed by Proke technology therefore allows for optimization of production efficiency, both at a production and development level, allowing garments to be designed in a repeatable manner, with fewer prototypes and errors. By reducing the number of items discarded or to be remade, Proke contributes to a more virtuous use of materials and resources.
How does the smart suit work? “Once you have received the wearable measurement device, or worn it in the store, just follow the instructions that appear on your smartphone: measurements and photos will automatically be detected and saved by the application. By clicking directly from the app, you can export the data, measurements and photos taken, which will be sent to the brand, retailer or manufacturer.”
Proke therefore allows an objective and error-free measurement process, totally independent of the person carrying out the measurement, guaranteeing maximum precision.
Thus, once you have received the measure (which remains the property of the customer and can therefore be reused), or worn in the store, just follow the instructions that appear on your smartphone: measurements and photos will be automatically detected and saved by the application. By clicking directly from the app, you can export the data, measurements and photos taken, which will be sent to the manufacturer, retailer or brand.
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Confirming the innovative aspect of Proke is the choice of Pitti Immagine, which selected Proke for the second edition of the “e-P Summit Innovation Awarda contest dedicated to innovative startups that contribute to revolutionizing the fashion tech sector.
“Oscar Wilde wrote ‘Tradition is a successful innovation’. In this sentence, we find our mission, as a company that keeps up with the times while respecting traditions. Something that resists the passage of time, which has marked a before and an after.”