Design Research and Technology

1. FASHION & TECHNOLOGY
Featuring 3-D Printing
By: Lawrence, Melinda

2. 3-D Printing & Fashion Merge
In 2013, Dutch designer Iris van Herpen merged the worlds of 3-
D printing and fashion
Van Herpen created an 11 piece collection, which featured 2 3-D
printed looks
The looks debuted at her Haute Couture show, ‘VOLTAGE’
during Paris Fashion Week in 2013
This started a movement for van Herpen, which she continues
today adding 3-D printed pieces to her collections each season
This presentation will show some of her ensembles and discuss
her process

3. Stratasys 3-D Printed Cape & Skirt with Objet
Connex Multi-material 3-D Printed Technology
• This look is an elaborate skirt and cape created
in collaboration with architect, artist, designer
and professor Neri Oxman from MIT’s Media
Lab and 3-D printed by Stratasys
• Stratasys is a leading manufacturer of 3-D
printers and production systems for prototyping
and manufacturing
• The 3-D printed skirt and cape were created
using Stratasys’ one-of-a-kind Objet Connex
multi-material 3-D printing technology, which
allows a variety of material properties to be
printed in a single build.
http://www.materialise.com/cases/iris-van-herpen-debuts-wearable-3d-printed-pieces-
at-paris-fashion-week (Article 1)

4. Van Herpen (Cont’d)
• This technology allowed both hard and
soft materials to be included within the
design, critical to the movement and
texture of the piece.
• Oxman explains that “The ability to vary
softness and elasticity inspired us to
design a “second skin” for the body acting
as armor-in-motion; in this way we were
able to design not only the garment’s form
but also its motion.”
• “The incredible possibilities afforded by
these new technologies allowed us to
reinterpret the tradition of couture as
“tech-couture” where delicate hand-made
embroidery and needlework is replaced by
code.”

5. Materialise 3-D Printed Dress
• This dress is an intricate piece designed in
collaboration with Austrian architect Julia
Koerner, and 3-D printed by Materialise
• Materialise is a Belgian-based pioneer in
Additive Manufacturing software and
solutions
• An experimental new material was put to
use in the creation of a flexible, soft dress
of marvelous intricacy
• The piece’s complex lace-like texture was
created with precision by lasers through a
method known as Laser Sintering and
would not be possible any other way

6. Materialise (Cont’d)
• Julia Koerner explains, “My collaboration with
Materialise for the 3-D printed dress for Iris
van Herpen's Haute Couture Show 'Voltage'
2013 reveals a highly complex, parametrically
generated, geometrical structure. The
architectural structure aims to superimpose
multiple layers of thin woven lines which
animate the body in an organic way.
Exploiting computational boundaries in
combination with emergent technology
selective laser sintering, of a new flexible
material, lead to enticing and enigmatic
effects within fashion design. New possibilities
arise such as eliminating seams and cuts
where they are usually placed in couture.”

7. Materialise Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNpbLRrdJxQ

8. Biopiracy Collection
• For this dress, van Herpen once again
used Materialise’s flexible material for 3-D
Printing, TPU 92A-1, which she used to
great effect for her Voltage Haute Couture
show in January 2013
• “Iris and Julia worked together again on a
design that successfully pushed the limits
of what both TPU 92A-1 and Laser
Sintering could do, with Materialise’s
Magics software being used to optimize the
design for the 3-D Printing process and
ensure a successful outcome.”
• The flowing and flexible dress was coated
in silicon to give it a glossy sheen as the
final step
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfmXN
BvNORk (2:13)http://www.materialise.com/press/iris-van-herpen-julia-koerner-and-
materialise-reunite-for-the-biopiracy-collection (Article 2)

9. Ice Dress
• This dress from van Herpen’s Spring 2015
Paris show was created in collaboration with
American 3-D printing company 3-D
Systems
• Van Herpen wanted to use a technique
called stereolithography, which 3-D Systems
founder Chuck Hull invented in 1983
• It had been used for industrial applications
up until van Herpen found another use for it
• A beam of ultraviolet light is concentrated
onto the surface of a vat filled with liquid
photopolymer, and layer by layer the
photopolymer hardens and then the print is
pulled out of the vat and the final product is
a piece of the dress
http://fashionista.com/2014/10/iris-van-herpen-3-d-printing (Article 3)

10. Ice Dress (Cont’d)
• A single garment can cost thousands
of dollars and is not mass marketable
• 3-D Systems is working with Van
Herpen to make her designs more
commercial and affordable
• Van Herpen plans to produce a range
of accessories with the same
technology used to create the ice
dress
• Jewelry, hair accessories and bags will
most likely be a part of her collection
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp
2om8Z2B64

11. Conclusion
Iris Van Herpen has proven that 3-D printing is not just restricted
to plastic that cannot be worn
Van Herpen is a true innovator in merging fashion and 3-D
printing
Sources
http://www.materialise.com/cases/iris-van-herpen-debuts-
wearable-3d-printed-pieces-at-paris-fashion-week (Article 1)
http://www.materialise.com/press/iris-van-herpen-julia-koerner-
and-materialise-reunite-for-the-biopiracy-collection (Article 2)
http://fashionista.com/2014/10/iris-van-herpen-3-d-printing
(Article 3)