3D printing company Stratasys has worked closely with fashion designers Julia Koerner and Ganit Goldstein as part of Re-FREAM, a collaborative research project funded by the EU to co-explore the use of technology and 3D printing in the future of fashion.
Re-FREAM enables selected artists and designers to team up with a community of scientists to “rethink the manufacturing process of the fashion industry”.
Thus, over the last year, Stratasys has strengthened its push for 3D printing in fashion by working closely with such household fashion brands to optimise its novel PolyJet technology.
The company says its goal with the projects is to meet the needs of modern-day apparel fabrication and make customised fashion design commercially available.
3D print in fashion
Since its unveiling at New York Fashion Week last year (2019), the ability to 3D print directly onto fabric has drawn significant interest from the world of high-end fashion. Exemplified by the works of fashion designers threeASFOUR and Travis Fitch on NYFW’s catwalk, this technological milestone gave the world a preview of what fashion design could look like when combining the geometric and aesthetic freedom of 3D printing with the comfort of fabric.
Its use cases in the fashion industry are snowballing: at the recent ARS Electronica Festival, Koerner unveiled her latest collection, ARID, which uses Stratasys’ PolyJet technology to 3D print a collection of 38 parts that can be combined to form a full dress, or “cascade into a number of different looks and combinations”.
PolyJet is a 3D printing technology that can produce “smooth, accurate parts, prototypes and tooling”.
“The digital designs were 3D printed directly onto sustainable fabrics in digital colours, creating an enigmatic shimmer effect when the garment is in motion, while maintaining the comfort and wearability of fabric garments,” Stratasys says.
The collection also allows for the easy adaption of personalised sizes through modified 3D printed connectors – the first time printed connectors have been used in the assembly of textiles, the company says – which are derived from 3D scans of the wearer. This development could prove to be influential for the fashion & apparel industry, which has seen massive demand for customisable fashions.
The goal of increasing customisation using 3D printing is shared across the fashion world. Goldstein says she teamed up with Stratasys to achieve her mission of customised fashion by combining craft methods with direct-to-textile 3D printing.
“Looking at the fashion world today, I want to introduce a new way of manufacturing – moving away from mass production and [towards] customised design,” says Goldstein. “3D printing has always offered the potential to personalise design in ways not possible before, but to truly create a new way to manufacture requires a new kind of textile.
“My goal is to create a new hybrid world of crafts and multi-colour 3D printing – connecting past, new and future techniques to evolve fashion design.”
Future developments
According to Stratasys, the use of 3D printed parts and shapes means that, for the first time in fashion, the textile is leveraged as the skeleton of the garment and enables designers to bring ‘unique designs’ to market that are not possible otherwise.
“It also challenges Stratasys to take the technology to places it’s not been before to support the emerging demand for direct-to-textile [3D] printing,” the company adds.
For example, the growing trend of 3D printing on fabric could enable localised manufacturing and, as mentioned, push mass customisation.
The company says: “Koerner and Goldstein leveraging Stratasys’ direct-to-textile printing technology exemplifies Re-FREAM’s goal of fully digitising design workflows from design through to production. In doing so, it demonstrates the possibility for localised manufacturing and mass customisation – regarded by many as the future of fashion.
“As Goldstein attests, direct-to-textile 3D printing has the potential to be a game-changer for the fashion industry.
“With the commercial interest in this innovative technique already at an advanced stage and pilot-testing underway, it may not be long before potential becomes reality.”
