German fashion designer Lilah LaValle started working on her first new outfit for 2015 late last year. She detailed the entire process on her official Facebook page, giving a clear roadmap for the process of bringing a unique 3D printed clothing accessory to life. “The idea began a spare-time collaboration between me and my boyfriend Daniel Sirkett,” Lilah says. He is a British mechanical engineer and industrial robot-designer currently working in Sweden. “It was his idea to use 3D printing, which is a vital part in his daily work, but I had never used it before,” says LaValle.
They first used a 3D scanner to obtain the 3D surface contour from a dressmaker’s mannequin. With SolidWorks, the surface was then trimmed to the outside dimensions and the internal design structure was added. LeValle next published the initial 3D digital concept of a design as a polygonal mesh.
The first clear indication comes 10 days later, as the Facebook page nears its inaugural 1000 subscribers (i.e. likes). At this point, the design is revealed to be a corset that will be 3D printed. The digital model is complemented by hand drawn adjustments and annotations.
Only a month later, what was just an idea (and, until a few years ago, it would have certainly remained so, unless, by some miracle, a fashion house discovered the corset and decided to produce it) takes its almost final form. The wearable corset was printed by Shapeways using SLS nylon. It is 3mm thick and very strong, but it also has some flexibility to conform to the shape of the wearer.
The completion of the corset took about the same amount of time, close to a month; however, the result is impressive. “We also had our corset velvet-coated with red fibres following printing using flocking, a process in which short fibres are bonded to the surface,” Lilah explains. “There are oval holes at the sides of the corset for installing the fastening-ribbons. We used some red ribbon, as can be seen in the pictures from the photo-shoot. The corset acquired a deep red velvety surface finish and the number of likes on the Facebook post has grown considerably.”
The finished corset is designed to be furnished with Austrian Swarovski crystal, with small circular holes added in the the centrer of the corset to position them precisely. Finally, it is complemented by a pair of simple hot pants in the same red color.
On January 25th, Lilah presents her new creation with a photo shoot. Photography is by Susan Kreuschmer, of Lily Like Visual Art; make up and hair styling is by Meachy Wong; while the model is Lily from LookOut Management. The entire project, worthy of any high-end fashion studio, was carried out in record time and with minimal investments, thanks to social media and 3D printing. Is this the future of fashion?
