Something had to be done.
Soft, elastic and very durable
What mannequins were not made of before: papier-mâché, fiberglass...When polyurethane foam appeared on the market, the sewing world had hope. This material was durable, yet soft and pleasant to the touch. He was not afraid of falls, easily squeezed and quickly returned to its original shape. And he was not afraid of high temperatures, which means that it was possible to iron on it! We decided to make a mannequin that consists entirely of this material.
But there remained another, very important problem. The mannequins of that time did not correspond to the parameters of modern Russian women. The standards had to be reinvented.
Dimensions and new shape types
Old mannequins were made according to outdated standards. For some reason, the figures were stooped, and there were errors in the parameters, which led to asymmetry. Since we decided to make the best mannequin in the world, we had to do new research.
We invited a lot of women and scanned their figures. There were a lot of test subjects, so the next stage was the most difficult. It was necessary to analyze everything and turn it into a system. From the array of the resulting shapes, we discarded the boundary results, and the remaining shapes were classified according to parameters close to the dimensional grid. So the figures of young modern women turned out.
Cover with markups: the main feature of Monica
So, our future mannequin had the perfect foundation and measurements that matched the figures of modern active women. The next step was a new cover.For the tight fit, we chose 100% cotton. It is actively used abroad, but in Russia it was not very popular. We tried dozens of options until we found the right one. We have already told you more about the cover in this article.
To make the cover fit snugly, and the markups did not move out, we embroidered it directly on the mannequin. And the tightness itself was made not one-piece, but from a variety of parts that were sewn with reinforced threads. By the way, we were the first to use this approach in the world!
The most important thing
But perhaps the most important step was the name. We decided not to leave our mannequin nameless, so Monica appeared. From a faceless sewing assistant, she immediately turned into a bright and recognizable character who managed to fall in love with hundreds of people.Challenges and competition
Of course, not everything was as smooth as the seams on the covers of our mannequins. The first models, for example, were with a thick and short neck. In addition, we honed the shape, changed the shade of beige color and corrected the inscriptions embroidered on the skin. The modern Monica is the best version of its predecessor.Our competitors quickly followed in our footsteps. However, here we were in the win. Unlike our measurement system, which we derived from research, other manufacturers took a 3D model and stretched it to different sizes. They went the easy way, and we went the hard and interesting way. That is why Monica became so popular and fell into the heart of many.
And it was also very difficult to find a designer and seamstresses who can sew like this!
