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Julia Körner’s 3D-Printed Setae Jacket Inspired by Butterfly Wings

The delicate wings of a butterfly have inspired a great deal of 3D-printed innovations, such as stronger structures for electronics and ultra lightweight geometries for better load bending, unique artwork, and even fashion. Pioneering 3D-printed fashion designer, architect, adjunct professor at UCLA, and, most recently, 3D-printed costume designer, Julia Körner has long used the technology in her work. Now, she has turned to 3D printing once again for the design of her eye-catching Setae Jacket, which was, as you may have guessed, inspired by butterfly wings.

“Julia Koerner is an award-winning Austrian designer working at the convergence of architecture, product and fashion design. She is internationally recognised for design innovation in 3D-Printing, Julia’s work stands out at the top of these disciplines,” her website states. “The constantly intriguing aspect of Julia’s work is its embodiment of a beautiful organic aesthetic.”

She was one of 15 designers chosen by non-profit organization Austrianfashion.net to show her work—the 3D printed Setae jacket—at its recent Virtual Design Festival (VDF). The organization is a platform that is focused on promoting contemporary Austrian fashion designers and partnered with VDF to exhibit innovative fashion designs and accessories by designers who were either born, or are currently based, in Austria, and also produce their work locally and sustainably.

Austrianfashion.net said, “[Körner’s] work on the future of 3D, as well as on its current applications, can be seen as revolutionary practice. Strongly believing that the future of fashion is 3D, Körner is making sure she is at the forefront of the revolution.”

Her beautiful, 3D-printed Setae Jacket is part of the 3D printed Chro-Morpho fashion design collection by Stratasys, which we’ve discussed here before, and was also inspired by colorful butterfly wings. The collection is meant to show how technology and textiles can work together, and even create commercially viable pieces of clothing. The jacket was 3D printed out of flexible Vero material on one of the company’s multimaterial printers, either the J750 or the J850, and every bristle resembles setae, which is a stiff structure akin to a hair or a bristle.

“The research explores digital setae pattern design and multi-color 3D printing on fabric, inspired by microscopic butterfly wing patterns. Butterfly wings are made up of membranes which are covered by thousands of colorful scales and hairs, plate-like setae,” Körner’s website states.

She used photographs of Madagascan Sunset Butterfly wings, and the setae on the wings were actually digitized into an algorithm, “which translates the color pixels into 3D bristle patterns which correspond to the form of the garment design.”

“The digital designs are 3D printed in an innovative way, without any support material and directly on fabric,” the site continues. “The relation between the colourful rigid setae and the flexible fabric create enigmatic visual effects when the garment is in motion.”

To form the jacket, the bristles were 3D printed on denim. When the garment is worn, the setae move along with the person, which is a really interesting effect.

“Due to the movement and delicate color transformation, it expresses a true organic animal flow that comes to life,” Stratasys states.

Do I spy a zipper?

It is definitely a unique piece, and while lack of comfort and wearability is always one of my biggest critiques when it comes to 3D-printed fashion, the Setae Jacket absolutely looks wearable to me.

What do you think? Discuss this story and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the comments below.

(Source: Dezeen / Image Credits: Ger Ger 2019)

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Anouk Wipprecht’s 3D-Printed Proximity Dresses Are Perfect for Social Distancing

If you don’t remember the stunning and technical work from Anouk Wipprecht—the Dutch fashion design working on “rethinking fashion in the age of digitalization” by combining engineering, fashion, robotics, science, and interaction/user experience in an emerging field known as FashionTech—let me refresh your memory. Noting that fashion lacks microcontrollers—something I never would have thought about—Wipprecht is an amazingly unique designer, who wants her clothing to, according to her website, “facilitate and augment the interactions we have with ourselves and our surroundings.”

“In a future where electronics are predicted to be embedded in everyday objects, – what kind of clothes will we wear? Will future techno fashion be purely aesthetic – or will it expand our awareness, acting like an intelligent second skin? Will we become super sensory, physically aware of data flows, communicating our internal states through the garments we wear? And, most pertinently perhaps, how will we socialize in our world when we are supervised by technology?”

Anouk Wipprecht’s Smoke Dress

Back in 2014, Wipprecht launched a campaign to create the first crowdsourced 3D-printed dress, and followed this up with her Synapse Dress, partnering with Materialise, Niccolo Casas, and Intel to create a wearable that leverages the wearer’s own electrical currents for a fully immersive experience. The designer later combined 3D printing with virtual reality to create a collection of dresses for Audi, and worked with model and musician Viktoria Modesta to fabricate 3D-printed prosthetics for musical performance.

Now, the high-tech futurist designer is back with two new 3D-printed wearables that could be very useful in this time of social distancing, due to the continuing COVID-19 crisis: the Proximity Dresses, Robotic Personal Space Defenders.

“Extending my research into proxemics and the body, I have fabricated two new dresses that create physical barriers when a person is detected in the immediate surroundings of the wearer,” Wipprecht said. “These twin dresses respond based on proximity and thermal sensors and indicates strangers within the intimate, personal, social and public space around the wearer.”

As with Wipprecht’s Smoke Dress and 3D-printed, robotic Spider Dress, which literally moves itself into an attack position if the embedded proximity biosensors detect that the wearer is uncomfortable, the design for these new dresses is based on Edward T. Hall’s Proxemics Theory. She explains that the theory defines “four spaces around the body,” each of which has its “own characteristic distances.”

Anouk Wipprecht’s 3D-Printed Spider Dress

“Whereas Hall had to measure the space between people using a wooden stick, I have been working since 2007 to translate these concepts into the digital domain, in order to measure the spaces between people up to a range of 25 feet,” she explained.

The Proximity Dresses use robotic, nylon 3D-printed hip mechanisms to extend when necessary. Additionally, they feature a transparent collar, 3D printed from clear resin, with some fancy sensors that offer noise-free distance readings.

Anouk Wipprecht’s Proximity Dress

These sensors use “high-output acoustic power combined with continuously variable gain, real-time background automatic calibration, real-time waveform signature analysis, and noise rejection algorithms. This holds true even in the presence of various acoustic or electrical noise sources, making it suitable for on-body use.”

By using the sensors, Wipprecht’s unique designs can invisibly trace their surroundings. Additionally, since the sensors don’t record any images or video, the dresses are not a threat to privacy, as nearby people remain anonymous.

“The Proximity Dress 2.0 is based on my 2012 prototype of this dress using hip mechanics create distance and a proximity sensor (ultrasonic rangefinder) for VW showcase during IAA, in Germany,” she concludes.

Check out the video below to see Wipprecht discuss her innovative, defensive Proximity Dress with Hyphen-Hub:

Discuss this story and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below.

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For a Personalized Look, Try a 3D Printed Pompillon Bow Tie

There’s something fantastically dapper about a bow tie, and a 3D printed version definitely takes this fashionable look the extra mile. Ties and bow ties, along with ascots and scarves, were born from the cravat, and can quickly elevate an outfit. But using 3D printing to make these fashion-forward accessories means that you can easily play with the shape and texture of the tie for a more unique aesthetic.

Pompillon, a clothing brand based in Italy and Germany, was founded in 2017, based on an idea from bow tie collector and aerospace engineer Luca Pompa, also the founder of the brand. That idea, of course, was to use 3D printing to make more creative, customizable bow ties. The name Pompillon is a playful merger between the surname Pompa and ‘papillon,’ which the website explains is “the French name of the beloved bow tie.”

“The vast assortment of colors of bow ties and combinable ribbons wants to encourage everyone’s imagination to the maximum, to personalize his style with a small accessory with attention to every detail,” the Pompillon Facebook page states. “Moreover, the various editions will allow collecting them in all its lines.”

3D printed Pompillon bow ties merge classic shapes with creativity, experimentation, and technology; add in attention to detail and a wide range of ribbons and tie colors, and the sky is the limit when it comes to personalizing your style. The Pompillon tie takes the typical bow tie silhouette, reduces it down to the most essential lines, and reinterprets the accessory with 3D printing.

The brand uses another Italian original to fabricate its bow ties – Sharebot 3D printers. Pompillon bow ties are 3D printed using a hexagon infill shape. Several of these six-sided polygons, all with sides of equal length, are joined together to make the bow tie and optimize “structural packing to the maximum.”

3D printed Pompillon bow ties are perfect for classic, everyday style, and for more formal occasions as well. The brand’s ideal clientele are those who appreciate a personalized and colorful look, as they enjoy dressing in a refined way, without being boring.

The bow ties are 3D printed out of plant-based, biodegradable PLA material from renewable resources, which keeps them lightweight. In the future, Pompillon will make special editions of its bow ties out of carbon fiber, marble powder, and even wood.

Pompillon has two versions of its bow tie – the filled Gentlemen and the open Rebel. When you combine the two, it makes the Unique model. The brand also offers a Gala Edition bow tie, which appear to only come in black and white for more sophisticated evenings, à la James Bond. These 3D printed bow ties are completely customizable with a variety of colors, clips, and ribbon, so you have a lot of choices to play around with in making your own unique accessory.

You can visit the brand’s online shop page to see what’s available. Two of the looks I really like are the Pompillon Dark Rebel, which is a red ribbon and black bow tie combination for just €24.90, and the Pompillon Unique White Snow & Blue Ocean, also at a price of €24.90. A 3D printed Gala Edition bow tie will set you back just €26.90, and several of the Pompillon Gentlemen ties, including my favorite in the limited edition Nature Green color, only cost €19.90.

They even look good on dogs!

“Have fun using them in bulk or combined with our other Pompillon. Make it unique and customizable for every look and mood,” the shop page says.

“Take a picture wearing it and post it on social media. If you send it to info@pompillon.it, it will be published and advertised on our social networks! plus you will have the chance to win a free one…be Lucky!”

Would you wear a 3D printed Pompillon bow tie? Let us know! Discuss this story and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below.

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Designer Julia Daviy Introduces Her Digitally Customizable 3D Printed Skirt

3D printing is moving ever closer to gaining a true home in mainstream commercial applications, thanks to the impact the technology is having on consumer fashion products such as jewelry, footwear, and clothing. While 3D printed fashion was still considered to be more of a novelty a few years ago, efforts have been increasing to make it more common – even in the classroom. Additionally, the technology is helping to usher in a more sustainable and eco-friendly way of manufacturing garments…and designer Julia Daviy is helping to lead the charge.

In addition to designing clothes, Daviy is also an ecologist and clean technology industry manager, and uses 3D printing to make cruelty-free, zero-waste clothing. She believes that the technology will change how the world produces clothing, especially when it comes to some of the more problematic issues of garment manufacturing, such as animal exploitation, chemical pollution, energy consumption, and material waste.

“Our goal was never to demonstrate the viability of 3D printed clothing and leave things at that. We’ll have succeeded when beautiful, comfortable, ethically manufactured and environmentally friendly clothes are the standard,” Daviy stated. “The innovations we’ve made on the production and marketing side of the equation are just as important as the technological breakthroughs that have gotten us this far.”

Concerned with the economically and environmentally irresponsible ways most clothes are made, she created an activewear line made with organic fabrics, and went on to study 3D printing at the University of Illinois in an attempt to find a better, “more complete alternative.” Daviy created her first wearable, 3D printed piece in 2017, and continued working to grow her knowledge base. She experimented with multiple 3D printing techniques, like FDM and SLA, and spent time working with manufacturers on various filament specifications.

At New York Fashion Week in September, Daviy released the first 3D printed, functional, women’s fashion collection in the US that uses large-format 3D printing. While I wouldn’t have called most of the pieces in that collection appropriate for everyday use, all of them, like the Pure Nature Suit, definitely looked wearable. But now the pioneering designer has come out with something that I would definitely classify as a functional garment: what she’s calling the first digitally customizable, widely available 3D printed skirt.

The skirt is environmentally friendly, made with ethical manufacturing, and can be custom designed and purchased on Daviy’s website so it fits the size and personality of the customer. The 3D printed, digitally customizable skirt meets, according to the website, “your highest sustainable and technological expectations.”

“This is a truly sustainable, zero-waste skirt that was designed and produced in the USA using groundbreaking technology invented and patented by Julia Daviy. This method allows Daviy to 3D print clothing with less than 1% of waste in the clothing production process,” the website reads.

“The skirt is produced by combining innovative 3D printing practices with fabric linings and luxury trimmings that meet the highest environmental and ethical standards.”

Customers can choose almost everything about the skirt, from its color and style down to the waistline. Then, Daviy and her team create a digital model of the skirt using this information, and fabricate it on a large-scale 3D printer, using Daviy’s patented, zero-waste process, out of recyclable TPE material; the organic, stretchable lining is 5% Lycra and 95% silk.

I went to the website to design my own skirt, which is typically delivered in ten days’ time, though you can choose faster delivery options. The only pattern choice is organic, but there are three styles to choose from: mini, A-line, and pencil. You can select a high or short waist wrap, or none at all, and you can also choose to add pockets (yes, pockets! Pause for a moment of celebration!). Color choices are black, blue, white, nude, and yellow, and the lining can be black, white, or nude.


“You are unique,” the website states. “Wear a garment that reflects your identity.”

The skirt is designed for a slightly loose fit, and should be hand washed separately in cold water and dried flat; it should not be ironed.

Based on looks alone, I would wear multiple versions of this cute skirt anywhere. But, as to be expected with customizable products, the more things you add on, the higher the price tag goes. A mini skirt with no waist wrap and no pockets is already breaking the bank for me at $780, and when I designed an A-line skirt with a short waist wrap and pockets, the price shot up to $1,350. But again, customized garments anywhere don’t come cheap, and at least you can sleep tight knowing that Daviy’s zero-waste pieces are more eco-friendly.

“I started to experiment with 3D printing because I believe that in an age of radical change and global challenges, people need absolutely new clothing. The first stage is to simplify digital customization and 3D printing of flexible and wearable clothing. We’ve accomplished that, and I think that consumers will respond,” Daviy said. “Once we’ve brought this technology into the mainstream, we plan to use 3D printing to make smart clothing that integrates technology even further into the design and function of our collection.”

Discuss this story and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below.

 

[Images: Julia Daviy]

 

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10 Ways 3D Printing Played a Part in Education in 2018

3D printing is often used in education these days, whether it’s being taught as a subject or used to enhance another one. As we’re moving ever closer to the start of a new year, we decided to save you some time and gather the ten best education stories from 2018 in one article.

Siemens STEM DAY

The Siemens Foundation focuses on philanthropic efforts in order to continue the advancement of STEM-related education and workforce development, and has invested millions of dollars for this cause in the US. In early 2018, the Siemens Foundation worked with Discovery Education to re-brand its annual Siemens Science Day into a program for more modern educational opportunities: Siemens STEM Day, which is an opportunity for US schools to promote STEM activities for both students and teachers. The program, which doesn’t actually happen on one specific day but is a promotion of STEM lessons and hands-on activities, is meant to be used by students in grades K-12, and offers multiple tools and resources to help reboot STEM curriculum.

New 3D Printing Educational Initiatives

[Image: 3D PARS]

In February, we provided a round-up of some of the many educational initiatives that were looking to provide adults with a deeper understanding of 3D printing. Included in this round-up was a new online course for professionals by MIT, new 3D printing courses from the Sharebot Academy program, and a joint two-day training course in additive manufacturing from German consulting firm Ampower and full service prototyping and 3D printing provider H & H. Additional educational initiatives shared in the round-up were 3DPrint.com’s own Additive Manufacturing with Metals Course.

learnbylayers Partnered with Kodak

In 2017, educator Philip Cotton launched an online 3D printing resource for teachers called learnbylayers that offers lesson plans, project ideas, assessments and more that were designed by teachers for teachers. The site grew quickly, and in February Cotton announced that it had reached a distribution agreement with Kodak. The learnbylayers educational curriculum was added to the Kodak 3D Printing Ecosystem, as the company began offering the internationally-taught curriculum along with its Portrait 3D printer’s launch.

Renishaw Deepened Its Commitment to 3D Printing Education

This spring, Renishaw announced that it would be deepening its commitment to 3D printing education. The company established a new Fabrication Development Centre (FDC) at its Miskin facility in South Wales, with the goal of inspiring young people to pursue STEM careers. The FDC has two classrooms, staffed by qualified teachers and Renishaw’s STEM ambassadors, that can be used for free by schools or groups of young people for lessons or workshops. The FDC was actually in use by Radyr Comprehensive School students long before it was officially launched by Andy Green, a driver for Bloodhound SSC, a 3D printing user and Renishaw partner which also devotes many resources to education about the technology.

Ultimaker Launched New 3D Printing Core Lessons for STEAM Education

Lesson 1: Coin Traps

In April, Ultimaker launched its new Ultimaker Core Lessons: STEAM Set for educators. Eight free lessons, published under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, are included in the set, which can help teachers in informal, K12, or Higher Ed classrooms incorporate 3D printing into their educational practices and STEAM curriculum. Some of the beginner lessons include 3D printing a coin trap, flashlight, and penny whistle, and can teach young students important skills like how to align objects, using symbols to communicate ideas, and how to effectively work together on creative projects.

PrintLab Teamed Up with CREATE Education Team

UK-based global 3D printing distributor and curriculum provider PrintLab partnered with UK 3D printing company CREATE Education, a collaborative platform that provides educators with free resources and support, in order to support schools all across the UK with 3D printing. Each company’s educational 3D printing offerings will be combined in this partnership so that UK schools can enjoy unlimited access to full 3D printing solutions for the classroom, which will be locally supported for life by CREATE. Multiple initiatives came out of this partnership to support teachers, like  3D printer loan schemes, funding advice and resources, special training and curriculum workshops, and new educational 3D printing bundles.

3Doodler Introduced New Educational Kits

3Doodler has long supported education, and often releases new STEM-centered educational packages, including its latest classroom product line: the 3Doodler Create+ EDU Learning Pack and 3Doodler Start EDU Learning Pack. Each pack, designed for and with teachers, was designed specially for classrooms from kindergarten to 12th grade and includes 6 or 12 3Doodler pens (Create or Start, depending on the package) and 600 or 1,200 strands of plastic, as well as other tech accessories, lesson plans, and classroom materials. Additionally, the company released its 3Doodler Create+ EDU Teacher Experience Kit and 3Doodler EDU Start Teacher Experience Kit, which are designed to be trial packs for teachers who are thinking about introducing the 3Doodler into their classrooms.

Robo Acquired MyStemKits

3D printer manufacturer Robo announced this summer that it had acquired Atlanta company MyStemKits, which provides the largest online library of STEM curriculum in the world. Thanks to this acquisition, Robo is now offering educational bundles that include its classroom-friendly 3D printers, a supply of filament, one-year subscriptions to MyStemKits, and additional professional development and online learning.

GE Additive’s Education Program Provided Five Universities with Metal 3D Printers

GE’s Additive Education Program (AEP) – a five-year, $10 million, two-part initiative to provide 3D printers to as many schools as possible – chose five universities this summer to receive an Mlab 200R from the program. 500 proposals were submitted for this round of the program, and GE Additive chose German’s Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Ireland’s University of Limerick, the Calhoun Community College in Alabama, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and West Virginia University as the lucky winners.

3D Printing In Fashion Education

In a recently published paper, titled “Integration of 3 Dimensional Modeling and Printing into Fashion Design Curriculum: Opportunities and Challenges,” Nicole Eckerson and Li Zhao from the University of Missouri discussed whether 3D printing should be integrated into fashion design curriculum. The researchers noted that while 3D printing has been recognized as a major influence in the work of designers and engineers, educators in the fashion industry are facing a lack of time, resources, and knowledge to teach the technology to students. The two conducted semi-structured interviews with eight 3D printing industry  experts and academic professionals for their research, and came up with three distinct themes from their data about why 3D printing should be adopted, and taught, in fashion.

Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.

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Designer Julia Daviy Stuns at New York Fashion Week with Functional 3D Printed Fashion Collection

Parametric Black Ocean Dress

Clothing is one of the many tools with which we use to express ourselves. I am generally a jeans and t-shirt kind of person, but many of my shirts have quotes from books or movies on them, or logos from places I’ve visited; I also still wear many of my shirts from college. Now, I certainly don’t wear t-shirts to special events – I pull out the dresses for those – but I consider casual clothing to be more of my everyday type of outfit, and I bet I’m not the only one. But that’s one of the great things about fashion – if you consider skirts and dresses to be everyday clothes, you’ve got plenty of choices.

Speaking very generally, 3D printed pieces of clothing are not what I usually consider to be everyday wear. I personally find a lot of 3D printed fashion, while very unique and beautiful, too high concept to actually wear out anywhere. However, some 3D printing fashion designers, like Julia Daviy, are working to change this perception.

Daviy, an ecologist and clean technology industry manager, is creating a new kind of biodegradable fashion out of 3D printed plastic. She believes that 3D printing will change the way clothing is produced, and maybe even one day replace traditional textiles altogether. She also believes that the technology can be used to solve worldwide problems such as chemical pollution, animal exploitation, energy consumption, and material waste.

At this month’s prestigious New York Fashion Week (NYFW), Daviy released the first 3D printed fashion collection in the US that not only uses large-format 3D printing, but is also considered to be a functional, wearable, everyday clothing look for women. According to a press release for the Digital Journal, Daviy’s clothing “aims to liberate the creativity of women by using 3D printing technologies to create an entirely new age for the fashion industry.”

“The 2018 NYFW had history written all over it as different fashion brands across the globe took to the runway to show their latest collection. One designer that particularly caught the eyes of fashion lovers across the globe is Julia Daviy,” the Digital Journal release said. “Over the years, the concept of 3D printed pieces has grown in popularity and acceptance with designers using hard materials with ultra-sophisticated designs to create amazing pieces. However, such pieces are usually almost impossible to wear for everyday activities due to the materials used in making them.”



Daviy’s 3D printed Liberation Collection, consisting of bespoke skirts, dresses, and two suits, debuted on September 6th at The Fashion Meet Technology NYFW event. She used both FDM and SLA technology to 3D print her pieces, and combined multiple filaments. Daviy personally designs each piece from scratch, and also completes each stage of production herself.

“Julia Daviy’s works are particularly unique as all looks are completely 3D printed, which is unlike other designers in the industry that print on several parts and require further post-processing to get the final piece,” the Digital Journal press release stated. “This innovation in addition to the use of “wearable” materials that helps to bring 3D printed fashion into the mainstream of everyday clothing are distinguishing factors of the designer’s collection.”

Pink Coral Neon Skirt

I need to stop right here and say, for the record, that while I think Daviy’s 3D printed collection has some stunning pieces in it (her Polka Dot Exoskeleton dress inspired by sea urchins is one of my favorites), I don’t think the vast majority of it could be considered everyday wear. The closest it comes, in my opinion, is with the Lace Mini Skirt and the Pink Coral Neon Skirt, the latter of which used parametric lines and a 3D pattern not dissimilar to snakeskin. But I can’t imagine walking out of my house on some random Wednesday afternoon in the Fragility Dress.

However, with a few exceptions (looking at you, Parametric Skin Suit), I will agree that most of the collection appears to be pretty wearable. Watching some of the videos on Daviy’s website, the clothing all appears to be breathable and easy to move around in, and I would wear that cute Parametric Black Ocean Dress, 3D printed out of biodegradable PLA and flexible TPU, to any fancy evening event. Just hanging out at the mall on the weekend, however – not so much.

However, feel free to take what I’m saying with a grain of salt – this is coming from a person who is currently clad in denim shorts, a black tank top, and fluffy gray slippers, after all.

Discuss this story and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below.