imaterialise has been 3D printing another ‘hat’ – I am not sure it comes under my definition of hat — but, nonetheless, the hat in question was for a specific purpose and dramatic political impact. The company also went some way to educate me (and maybe you?) on a political tradition in the Netherlands, which I thought was pretty cool. So, ‘Prinsjesdag’ or Prince’s Day is traditionally the day when the reigning monarch of the Netherlands gives a speech — rather like the Queen’s Speech in the UK — outlining government policy for the coming parliamentary session. Beyond the fundamental politics however, there is also an equally traditional fashion parade, whereby the women attending the speech all wear special hats. My kind of event!
It’s not hard to see why 3D printing would feature this year, what with all the fashion developments in the last 12 months. For the 2013 Prinsjesdag speech, Dutch Designer, Emmy Jaarsma, designed and 3D printed a hat for Dutch politician Anne-Wil Lucas.
imaterialise printed the hat in its rubber-like material, one I will be checking out at the TCT Show this week. The designer was obviously central to the process, but what I found rather interesting was that it was the politician that was looking to put 3D printing on the map at his event, in order to stress the importance of the technology now and in the future.
Just as an aside, for anyone interested in the Dutch pomp & ceremony (and/or fluent in the language), you can get a taste of it here:
