Fabrik

Inspiration

Clothes are an aspect of our lives that we have control over; our sensitive skin is not. The world we live in today is riddled with synthetic fiber blends, which can irritate our skin even when present in very small proportions. As a result, many of us closely inspect clothing labels to ensure an item is safe to wear before purchasing it.

We were inspired by Yuka, an app that many people rely on when grocery shopping. With Fabrik, our goal is to remove that mental load by offering a comprehensive resource for checking clothing labels and tags, as well as suggesting safe alternatives. Our intuitive interface makes hard-to-read labels more accessible, reducing stress throughout the buying process. Furthermore, even for people without sensitive skin, fabric composition plays a significant role in clothing choices.

What it does

Scanning labels and tags

Easily scan a materials label or barcode on any clothing item to receive a clear, easy-to-read analysis of the fabric composition.

Customized analysis

By combining metrics related to each material, users can better understand their clothing’s properties.

Explore sustainable alternatives

We promote ethical consumption and sustainable production by suggesting similar items to those that are scanned.
The Explore section introduces users to a curated range of sustainably made clothing, from underwear and footwear to outerwear and accessories.

How we built it

Frontend

React Native

Backend

Python
Google Gemini
- (To change from raw text to computer understandable materials compositions)
- Processing and classifying items from different brands
Shopify JSON endpoints
- Fetching product data from online stores, with cached information for efficiency

Deployment

Render

Challenges we ran into

Text recognition accuracy
Cross-platform mobile development (iOS and Android)
- The text recognition is a native api to both iOS and Android... it was harder to get it working with Apple, and in both cases we had to access the xcode build and the java build.
Fetching data from multiple stores and managing permissions for accessing Shopify JSON endpoints
- Including limitations on the number and type of accessible stores (excluding some mainstream brands such as Aritzia or Uniqlo, whose sustainability scores could themselves be questioned)

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Building a full-stack application in a short amount of time
Successfully integrating AI tools for text recognition and classification
Strong collaboration, troubleshooting, and teamwork

What we learned

Backend deployment and management
iOS mobile development (Xcode, compiling, and debugging an iOS app)
Android mobile development (Android SDK)

What's next for Fabrik

Adding user preferences to evaluate compatibility with clothing and personalize the user experience
Streamlining the Explore and History sections
Conducting deeper research into material science to develop more accurate, science-backed heuristics for fabric evaluation