Fashion design could revolutionise itself as 3D printing advances.
In modern life, technology is everywhere. Human dependence on it increases every day. 3D-printing is a technological innovation that has been gaining traction in recent years. The techniques of 3D-printing are now being used by a variety of industries.
The process of 3D printing (also known as additive manufacture) involves creating a physical product from a digital three-dimensional model. This digital model acts as the blueprint. The object is constructed using a layer by layer approach. This is an additive method because the thin layers of materials slowly build up in succession.
3D printing is part of a bigger group of digital manufacturing technologies that are powering the fourth industrial revolution – also known as Industry 4.0. Direct digital manufacturing, smart production and newer technologies such as artificial intelligence, augmented realities, advanced robotics and smart devices are driving forces behind the fourth industrial revolution.
The concept of 3D printing was first envisioned in Japan in the 1980s by Dr. Hideo Kodama, who developed a way of ‘rapid prototyping’. He discovered a method of solidifying objects by layering material that was polymerised or solidified using UV light. This was a major breakthrough in product development, and it offered a glimpse of the future.
The technology of 3D printing is not new, but the interest has just begun to grow. This growing interest may be due to the introduction of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things networked sensors that both improve the speed and reliability of print. The advantages that 3D printing can provide businesses include flexibility, cost-efficiency, quick designing, and minimal waste.
3D-printing is now everywhere. It’s used to make houses, food, and even organs.
The global market for 3D printers is growing quickly, with the growth being driven by applications in a wide range of industries including aerospace, healthcare, automotive, and defense.
Fashion and 3D Printing
Fashion designers are always looking for new design technologies and have been using 3D printing since the last decade. Fashion designers strive to be on the cutting edge of innovation, and 3D printing gives them the tools necessary to produce the most innovative designs. Many designers and brands are using the technology to create new designs and facilitate creativity.
Prior to this, 3D printing in fashion was restricted to art pieces and haute couture, where artists and designers created intricate, complex, and unique geometrical designs that were only displayed on the catwalks or at art exhibitions. This limitation is changing as the capabilities and accessibility of 3D printing improve. Designers and innovators now realise the potential and are thinking about ways to use this technology at scale.
The first designer to experiment with 3D printing in fashion is fashion pioneer, researcher and designer, Danit Peleg, who made headlines in 2015 for being “the first designer in the world to create an entire collection using desktop 3D home printers for her graduate project at Shenkar College of Engineering and Design.”1 Her collection’s breakthrough was due to the use FilaFlex filament, a new type of filament which is both flexible and strong. Peleg’s first 3D-printed collection took over 2,000 hours to print and around 400 hours per outfit. Peleg’s passion for 3D printing has been recognised globally as she pushes to revolutionise fashion design and manufacturing and give birth to a new wave of sustainable fashion.
Since Peleg’s discovery, brands and designers globally have been experimenting with 3D printers, with designers now equipped with the tools to create the most challenging design concepts. Architects and engineers are working with fashion designers to help reshape future fashion.
Iris Van Herpen is a Dutch designer and pioneer of 3D fashion print. She exhibited 3D-printed designs at the Met Gala 2022. Teyana Taylor, Winnie Hartlow and Fredrik Robertsson wore them. Van Herpen’s 3D printed designs have also been featured on the catwalks for Paris, where she teamed up with premium ice cream brand Magnum to design a vegan-inspired 3D printed haute couture dress. Both Van Herpen and Peleg are pushing the boundaries for 3D printing in fashion and are even looking at smaller printing machines that could be used in people’s homes.
Major fashion brands have also begun to experiment with the 3D-printing technology. In 2018, Nike developed the world’s first running shoe with 3D-printed uppers, worn by athlete Eliud Kipchoge in the London Marathon. Adidas and vegan fashion designer Stella McCartney have also shown interest, having partnered with 3D manufacturing specialist Carbon to produce their limited edition Stella McCartney x Adidas Alphaedge 4D shoe, which featured a 3D printed midsole, printed with Carbon’s Digital Light Synthesis (DLS) 3D printer.
Imagine the possibilities of 3D-printed clothing in the future?
Imagine that a guest has been invited to dinner, but they cannot find any suitable clothes to wear. In the current age, it would be easy to buy the newest trend in a shop. However, this guest owns a 3D Printer. They browse the web to find the outfits they want, download patterns, and then print them out at home.
The clothing would be made from raw materials such as ABS, PLA, or TPU, which could be continually melted after use. The 3D Printer would be small, and it could sit easily on a desktop. Price of these printers is likely to be high at first (complex 3D printing can cost as much as $500,000), however, with time and the normalisation of this technology, they will become more affordable.
Fashion, sustainability and 3D printing benefits
Fast fashion is the biggest offender in the fashion world. Fast fashion retailers and brands are obsessed with mass-production, producing clothes at an unheard of rate. There is no infrastructure in place for the processing of textile waste. Fashion as it is currently practiced has serious implications for the stability and future the planet. The 3D printing technology could help to change this, and mitigate the harmful effects of some industries. Fashion can co-exist alongside more sustainable practices.
The 3D-printing process is a futuristic technology that could reduce bulk orders online, textile waste and overproduction. It could offer a more sustainable alternative to the world fashion, and a completely disruptive approach.
3D printing has many benefits for sustainability
Reduces waste and cut-offs
Around 10-20% of textiles is wasted in garment manufacturing2. This ‘pre-consumer waste’ is generated through painting/ weaving, colour and prototyping errors, cutting room scraps and leftover materials. This is an enormous amount of waste generated, especially considering that it takes around 2,700 litres to make a T-shirt.3. The precision of 3D technology allows for less waste to be generated compared to conventional manufacturing. Clothing can be manufactured with a specified amount of material, without uncertainty about the volume and quantity of resources required.
Son of a Tailor from Denmark is a great example. The brand is on a mission of reducing production waste, and they are using 3D technologies to achieve this. The brand created a 3D-knitted made-to order pullover that uses 3D technology. The brand has created a 3D knitted, made-to-order pullover that uses 3D technology to knit the product in one piece.
Promoting Upcycling Material
Currently, technology is not advanced enough to continuously recycle textile fibres, with a 2022 McKinsey Report stating, “less than one per cent of textile waste is fibre-to-fibre recycled due to several barriers to scale that need to be overcome.” One of these barriers surrounds the problem of recycling garments that are made from more than one material source.
Clothes could be 3D printed from materials that are both recyclable and degradable. The material from the clothes could be melted and reused to make the next outfit. The concept is not yet fully realized, but Julia Koerner of JK Design GmbH – a company that specializes in digital design and 3D-Printing – believes that it will be in the near future.4.
Reduces raw Materials
Intensive processes are used in the garment industry to source raw materials. These are detrimental for the environment. 3D printing has the potential to save 90 per cent on natural resources5It is a great way to help the environment. Plastic bottle waste could be used to create materials. For example, the American brand Ministry of Supply converted 1.2 million bottles of water into 3D filaments. This prevented them from being disposed of in landfills and saved 21 tonnes of CO2.2 The atmosphere.
The Benefits of 3D printing
Personalisation & Customisation
Customisation is one of the many benefits that 3D printing offers. The fact that each brand uses a different size chart means that there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution. 3D printing poses the perfect solution for this as clothes can be personalised and designed for each consumer, adapting them to the individual customers’ needs. Brands would not need to mass produce products as they will be made according to the order. Also, customers won’t be affected by products that are out of stock as products would be created once they have ordered them.
Creative Exploration & Fabric Innovation
The impossible is now possible with 3D printing. This technology gives designers the freedom to be creative and create products which would otherwise have been impossible or too expensive. They can create clothes with intricate details and patterns, and with high levels of accuracy and detail.
Challenges Of 3D Printing
3D printing has its own challenges. One of them is the limited materials compatible with 3D printers. The materials that are compatible with 3D printers include a lot of plastics, which can be toxic to the environment if they’re disposed off incorrectly. They also have an impact on air quality and health when they vaporise at room temperature.
The material used for clothing is not comfortable and flexible, so it’s not suitable to wear casually. But researchers and innovators have been working hard to find comfortable and flexible fabrics that are easy to produce.
For 3D-printed clothing to take off, fashion’s entire paradigm will have to change. The fashion industry is currently based on mass production and consumption. It will take time to shift the industry towards on-demand, customizable, recyclable products.
You can also read our conclusion.
3D printing provides the fashion industry with a feasible, efficient and sustainable way to produce clothes that mitigates many flaws of the industry’s intense production line. 3D-printed clothing is just beginning its journey. As more designers learn about the amazing opportunity 3D printers provide, 3D printed clothes will become more mainstream. Fashion industry must transform as the world moves its priorities towards sustainability and circularity. 3D printing can play a key role in this transformation.