The Objet500 Connex3 from Stratasys utilises inkjet technology that allows it to 3D print in multiple materials to produce multi-colour products and parts. In the past, such a printer may have created impressively detailed prototypes, but as 3D printing is used more and more for final products, we will be treated to an increasing number of projects like that of Dr. Michaella Janse van Vuuren of South Africa.
At the 3D PrintShow in New York recently, Dr. van Vuuren and her collaborators demonstrated a line of 3D printed clothing made exclusively with the new Connex3 3D printer. In stunning detail and vibrant colour, models walked the runway at the 3D PrintShow showing off the new technology. The designs, which took over six months to make, could not have been produced in any other way but with 3D printing.
As Dr. van Vuuren tells it, the fashion line was the result of work that occurred over three continents. She sketched the clothing using the traditional method of pen and paper, then creating 3D digital sculptures and CAD drawings. The resulting line was customized by Turlif Vilbrandt from Uformia in Norway and printed by Tal Ely and Dr. Daniel Dikovsky, Material R&D team leader from Stratasys, on the Objet500 Connex 3 in Israel. The results were spectacular, as you can see from these photos by Yoram Reshef. Dr. van Vuuren is the founding member of an artist collective called the Agents of the 3D Revolution, which is made up of a number of talented and striking 3D designers who are now unleashing their talents on Cape Town with a seminar and exhibition for a South African design program titled GUILD, the flagship event of the Cape Town World Design Capital 2014.
