Student Creates Smart Maternity Wear
By OLIVIA LUTWAK
Fashion design student Blake Uretsky ’15 completely reimagined maternity wear to win one of four $30,000 Geoffrey Beene national scholarships earlier this month.
Uretsky said her brand — “B” Maternity Wearables — uses innovative design and technology to not only enhance a woman’s style, but also her health. Conductive fiber technology is directly incorporated into the clothing’s fabrics and has the ability to record a pregnant woman’s vital signs. Information about her heart rate, blood pressure, temperature and respiration are sent directly to her smartphone, allowing her to monitor her health throughout all trimesters of her pregnancy, according to Uretsky.
The topic of the Geoffrey Beene scholarship contest this year was a case study in wearable technology, according to Uretsky.
“[It is] a growing trend in fashion, yet no one really knows how to create a successful piece of wearable technology that entices consumers to buy,” she said.
Uretsky said she envisioned two characteristics that all new products of wearable technology should have in order to be successful when she was researching the case study proposal.
“Wearable tech products must be both aesthetically pleasing and have meaningful … characteristics that users value,” she said.
Uretsky said she decided to focus on maternity wear because it had been “overlooked.” She added that incorporating technology into maternity wear is valuable since monitoring pregnancies is necessary.
When researching her project, Uretsky said she surveyed more than 30 pregnant women and tried on maternity wear herself while wearing a fake baby bump. After trying on clothing and listening to responses, Uretsky said she noted the “poor fit” and “unflattering styles” of maternity wear.
According to Uretsky, she began working on her project when the case study was handed out last May and continued to work on it until the awards ceremony this January.
Uretsky said Prof. Anita Racine, fiber science and apparel design and Prof. Van Dyk Lewis, fiber science and apparel design, provided her with “endless support, guidance, and helpful critiques” in an otherwise “complex” and “challenging” case study.
“What challenged me … was that the clothing I designed for these women were to be worn before, during and after pregnancy rather than strictly just for the short nine months of pregnancy,” Uretsky said. “I had to create numerous muslin samples of each design to make sure it worked for both the non-pregnant body shape as well as the pregnant body shape.”
According to Uretsky, around 50 schools compete in the Geoffrey Beene Case Study Competition, and each school only sends one student to the competition. A panel of industry leaders choose the top eight students, who then go to New York City to present their work to another panel of judges. All eight attend an awards gala, during which the top four winners are each presented with a $30,000 scholarship, while four runner-ups are presented with $10,000.
Former New York Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera handed Uretsky her award, a moment she said was “nerve-wracking.”
“It was … exciting being on stage in front of 1,500 people and waiting for your name to be called. I was thrilled when I was handed the award,” she said.
Though Uretsky said she is uncertain of the future of her maternity-wear line, she added that she wants to pursue a career in fashion design and plans on using her scholarship money towards starting her own brand.
Uretsky is the second Cornell student in a row to win the scholarship. Justine Lee ’14 was awarded the same scholarship last year for her line of convertible clothing and accessories.
Author: Olivia Lutwak
Olivia Lutwak is a Staff Writer for The Sun's news department. She can be reached at olutwak@cornellsun.com.
