Fashions come out at the racetrack. People looking to make a statement amid the thundering hooves and roars of the crowd often adorn their domes with fascinators, a fashionable headpiece. Bart van Driessche, a third year Industrial Design student at the TU Delft, created his Art Nouveau inspired fascinator after his course, called “Cybercraft”, provided the opportunity to work with 3D printing.
The Cybercraft course Bart took at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology provided a platform for Bart to explore his vision through additive manufacturing. As an extra bonus for the work and beauty of the final design, Tania Ash wore the fascinator at Melbourne Cup Day and received raved reviews. The design was inspired by the Art Nouveau movement which sought the aesthetics of curved and smooth qualities found in nature. In this vein, Bart’s fascinator sought to capture a moment in time by a physical representation of wind or streamer waves. It is a striking design that flows from the side of the wearer to the forehead providing not only a picturesque frame for one’s head but also a dramatic image as a whole.
In final printed fascinator state, the product weighs 150 grams, but due to the complex geometry, over a kilogram of support material was needed. Most of the material could be removed by hand, but eventually a hydrojet provided more precise removal for the more delicate parts. In the final stage, Bart used a wooden clay set for removal, sanded and treated with isopropyl alcohol, and spray painted a coat before use.
One of the more inspiring elements, aside from the sensational design, is the visual diary Bart provides. The work went through various transformations and false starts to eventually arrive at the finished product. Such an example, casually inserted into the site, serves to remind burgeoning artists and designers that beauty is not instantaneous, the fascinator, like a poem, must endure draft boards, cuts and contortions before display. I would leave with a pun, but it would irk a milliner.
