I was first introduced to 3-D fashion during my Spring 2013 semester of college. Wellesley students have the opportunity to work with MIT researchers through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). I was lucky to meet a graduate student who was had an interest in fashion and was able to work with her on two projects. The first focused on 3-D Printed Wearables ("protective and flexible artifacts that can include fashion, sport, armor, and space applications") and was based in the Department of Materials Sciences and Engineering. We researched biomimetics- the study of the structures and elements in nature that can help solve human problems. In particular, we looked at fish and the unique way their scales connect and protect while still maintaining flexibility. In parallel, I was helping the graduate student with her personal fashion project on how clothing can be used as a universal translator. These two projects had me immersed in a lot of research; during my readings, I came across the intersection of 3-D printing and fashion: Iris van Herpen.
Iris van Herpen is really the first designer to create large scale 3-D printed designs and put on fashion shows. Her work is called "futuristic", "edgy", and "innovative". According to her website, she "creates a modern view on Haute Couture that combines fine handwork techniques with digital technology. Van Herpen forces fashion to the extreme contradiction between beauty and regeneration. It is her unique way to reevaluate reality and so to express and underline individuality."
http://www.irisvanherpen.com/about
On another note- the title of this post is the name of the new Costume Institute exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art opening on May 5th. This Racked article explains the theme as "exploring the blurring lines between man- and machine-made fashion". The exhibit "will contrast handmade techniques, like embroidery, pleating, and lacework, with those done by a machine, like laser-cutting, thermo-shaping, which involves heating up plastic in order to manipulate its shape; and circular knitting."
I am really excited to see this exhibition in the spring. Here's to fashion of the future! And I'm glad that there is still that element of wonderment and fantasy that I adore in fashion.
~burn bright~
Jess