For decades, architectures and Scientists have been using 3D printers but it is only recently that this technology has been used within fashion. 3D printing has allowed manufacturers to move away from mass production to start a new era of customisable, one-off pieces or garments that are decorative. Using a 3D printer has enabled manufacturers to create pieces that would not be possible with tools. Items that are decorative and intricate can be created using a machine that you can input information in to. There is no limit to what a 3D printer can create though, from cars, to robots, to toys, to clothes.
2010 was the experimental year for 3D printing in fashion. It allows designers to produce complicated or even impossible designs that could never have been made by hand. It has meant creativity has no boundaries in fashion, innovation has exploded, materials that have never been used before are creating dresses, shoes and bags. It is all about experimenting too. If a designer has an idea and it fails once it has been 3D printed then they can try and try again, there are no boundaries.
Fashion Designers such as Danit Peleg have created garments with 3D printing that have been seen on catwalks. The Dutch designer Iris van Herpen's signature looks and designs are all 3D printed.
A huge advantage of 3D printing is the reduction of labour costs. Brands can optimise the use of machinery by having less employees and therefore benefiting the brand financially. However, 3D technology still needs developing in terms of fabric. When a garment is printed using a 3D printer it does not have the same composition to a handmade garment. The holes in the fabric and the way air passes through the fabric are not the same. This means that clothes can become uncomfortable to wear depending on the fabric used and the way it has been made. But with the development of technology being ever growing, it is no doubt that this issue will have been perfected by the end of the year.
Reported By Molly Gordon
Future
Fashion Wanderer
We look in to how technology is affecting fashion and how 3D printing is changing the way of manufacturers.