We’re at the dawn of a new age where 3D printing technology is beginning to see its use not just in the field of engineering and architecture, but in fashion as well. At Paris Fashion Week, 3D printer manufacturer Stratasys and Belgian additive manufacturer, Materialise, showcased their latest 3D printing collaborations which included a 3D-printed skirt and cape. The two 3D-printed creations were featured in Dutch designer Iris van Herpen’s eleven-piece collection. The 3D-printed skirt and cape were designed using Stratasys’s Objet Connex multi-material 3D printed technology, which allows material properties to be printed in a single build.
The result is a design that incorporates both hard and soft materials. MIT Media Lab professor Neri Oxman and UCLA’s Julia Koerner, an architect, also contributed to the design. “I feel it’s important that fashion can be about much more than consumerism, but also about new beginnings and self-expression, so my work very much comes from abstract ideas and using new techniques, not the re-invention of old ideas, says Iris van Herpen. “I find the process of 3D printing fascinating because I believe it will only be a matter of time before we see the clothing we wear today produced with this technology, and it’s because it’s such a different way of manufacturing, adding layer-by-layer, it will be a great source of inspiration for new ideas.”
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