The present invention relates to articles of clothing, and particularly relates to a combination of a knitted product or the like and a package therefor.

For a long time, one of the commercial aims in the field of knitted products typically intended for women has been to provide a product which can combine certain features of lightness, practicality and high aesthetic value. Especially in summer, most women require an article of clothing which is available when needed, otherwise easy to be placed in a handbag. Obviously, this kind of article of clothing must have highly particular features of lightness and conformability, but it would be certainly subj ected to remarkable stresses resulting from all the items which usually exist within a woman handbag. It is clearly apparent that the brittleness of an extremely light yarn makes the yarn not well suitable to coexist with keys, pens, mobile, make-up equipment and other obj ects which are the most common contents of a handbag.

The present invention aims to provide a solution which can combine the practicality of an extremely light article of clothing to a complete adaptability and flexibility of utilization thereof.

Therefore, an object of the present invention i s a combination comprising an article of clothing or the like and a foldable container intended to receive the same; preferably, the article of clothing is made of an extremely light and fine yarn, particularly on the order of a few tenths of a millimetre, such as silk, cashmere, or synthetic or semisynthetic yarns; the foldable container is a case which is quite small in size, particularly a case having a volume less than 300 cm ³ , and more particularly a case which can be shaped as a glasses case or the like.

Further advantages and features of the combination according to the present invention will be apparent from the following description of an embodiment thereof, which is provided by way of illustration, and not by way of limitation, with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of an embodiment of the combination according to the present invention.

In Figure 1 there is shown an embodiment of the combination according to the present invention; reference numeral 1 denotes the foldable container as used in the instant embodiment. In the embodiment as disclosed herein, said container is a case consisting of two half-shells 101 and 201 which are coupled with each other along respective trailing edges 121 , 221 by hinges 301. Each of the two half- shells 101 , 201 has an internal cavity 1 1 1 , 21 1 respectively.

An article of clothing 2 can be received within the cavity as generally defined by the two half-shells 101 , 201 ; in the figure, the article of clothing is shown as wrapped around itself, and it can be seen the end 1 12 of a sleeve 102 thereof.

The operation of the combination according to the present invention will become apparent from the following. As previously stated, the article of clothing as used in the combination of the invention is a woven product, an interwoven product, or otherwise a product resulting from processing a yarn having an extremely small cross-section, particularly from about 0.02 mm to 0.4 mm, and preferably from 0. 1 mm to 0.2 mm. By using such a fine yarn, both lightness and conformability of the resulting article of clothing can be assured. Advantageously, the yarn is a cashmere yarn, a silk yarn, or similar natural yarns to obtain a qualitatively satisfactory result from the performance point of view of the product; alternatively, the yarn can comprise synthetic or semi-synthetic fibers.

The container as used in the combination of the invention has to meet some basic requirements; firstly, it has to be quite small in size, since space-saving was one of the problems that the present invention aimed to solve. Preferably, the total volume of the container will be less than 500 cm ³ , and more preferably less than 300 cm ³ .

Said container can be made of different shapes, but a preferred shape will obviously be a shape wherein the cavity intended to receive the article of clothing is formed by two half-shells which are substantially identical and suitably coupled to each other, as illustrated in the accompanying figure. Indeed, in such a way, the greatest accessibility to the cavity is ensured, thus limiting potential damages or stresses to the article of clothing. Preferably, the container of the combination will be of a shape substantially similar to the shape of a glasses case, which is inherently included among the kind of objects and shapes usually existing in a woman handbag.

Therefore, the combination according to the present invention provides a suitable solution to fulfil a need of practicality and comfort for an article of clothing, while saving the integrity thereof without any particular complication and structural change to the same article.