3D-Printing Move Into Fashion

With 3D-Printing continuing to develop, the use of the technology has now shifted into the fashion industry. Now, for a limited time online shops like "i.materialise" are offering designers the chance to play with experimental materials that have properties akin to rubber. These materials are only being offered on a limited basis, however they are certainly paving the way for new ideas to enter the field. The use of 3D-Printing in fashion has been quite a success thus far with one Haute Couture dress being paraded down the Catwalk at Spring Fashion Week 2013. 

The pricing of the new material remains a concern to some. The material us is dyed black and called Rubber-like, is priced at €2 (US$2.60) per cubic centimeter, which is more expensive than other options. However, this is one of the few materials available that frees designers to incorporate shock absorption and structural elasticity into their models, gadgets, and functional objects. 

The 3D-printed dress, created by Dutch designer Iris van Herpen with Julia Koerner, was fabricated by "i.materialise" on its Mammoth Stereolithography machines. "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," says Iris van Herpen, who has designed sophisticated skirts, capes, and dresses that would be impossible to create any other way.

The video below shows the possibilities of the current "Rubber-like" material in design: