Breg, one of the leading providers of orthopedic bracing, approached Interwoven Design Group to design and develop the next generation of their soft, hinged knee brace product line. Collaborating closely with Breg’s internal engineering and manufacturing experts, Interwoven was tasked with creating a dynamic product line tailored for individuals with mild osteoarthritis, meniscal, patellar, ACL, PCL, MCL, and LCL injuries and instabilities. Through a collaborative effort, Breg and Interwoven worked together to deliver the Breg CrossRunner™ Soft Knee Brace, a premium wearable knee brace crafted with the utmost quality to meet the needs of patients.
Breg CrossRunner™ Soft Knee Brace
What we did
- Trend & Direction
- Concept Development
- Soft Goods Design
- Material & Color
- Branding & Trim Development
- Technical Pattern Development
- Size Grading
Clients / Collaborators
Product Description
Breg’s CrossRunner™ Soft Knee Brace series engineered to deliver optimal comfort and support. A cohesive design language unites four versions of the brace: the wraparound, pull-on, long, and short braces. This selection ensures that there is a solution for every user. The sleek, low-profile hinge at the knee joint features customizable Range of Motion (ROM) stops, allowing users to dial in their preferred or recommended ROM. The body of the brace is made with Breathefit™ fabric, a blend of neoprene and Airmesh®, that offers therapeutic compression along with the comfort of breathability.
Concept Development
Interwoven began the design process by creating mood boards that captured key trends forecasted in the wearable technology market. Breg chose a design direction that prioritized ease of use, mirroring the body's anatomy for optimal performance and enhancing the user experience during donning and doffing sequences. This work established a cohesive vision around styling, materials, and construction. The Interwoven team generated innovative concepts through 2D sketches and 3D foam mockups to showcase user interaction and material placement. They incorporate compression elements and materials that target thermoregulation while ensuring ergonomic comfort.
Soft Goods Design
Breg analyzed and developed Interwoven’s concepts, ultimately selecting a direction to develop further. The refinement process involved defining the precise positioning of hinges and establishing a foundational soft goods pattern. Aesthetic enhancements included unifying style lines to streamline the design while prioritizing fit, function, and wearability. The Interwoven team designed several elements, including hinge covers, branding, strap configurations, tabs, custom binding, colorways, and material placement. These details transformed the prototype into an intuitive, cost-effective, and elegant design.
Technical Pattern Develompent
Interwoven worked jointly with Breg to craft suitable leg forms to represent each CrossRunner™ Soft Knee Brace size and initiated the size grading process for the brace pattern. Interwoven developed a system to uniformly size grade the product line across diverse leg shapes while maintaining a consistent hinge placement. They created precise technical drawings of the exterior and interior faces to depict all the layers of the design. This process helped to refine the pattern such that it accurately reflected the alignment of the flaps and compression straps above and below the knee. Interwoven’s in-house designers engineered technical patterns, fine-tuned eight size grades, and seamlessly translated components into CAD for clear communication with Breg’s manufacturing team. Following the production of samples, Interwoven remained actively engaged, providing ongoing support for production and quality control. The continuous collaboration between Breg and Interwoven ultimately ensured the delivery of a product of superb quality.