3D Printed Fashion Hit the Runway at RAPID 2016

Debbie Holton, Events & Industry Strategy at SME, and Jess Hedstrom, Sculpteo Community Manager, introduce the 3D printed fashion show at RAPID

PHEW. I’m back in my office now after a whirlwind of a week at RAPID, held in Orlando this year. We’ve been keeping you up to date on some of the highlights, as writer Clare has highlighted some of each day’s goings on — now hold on tight over the next several days for some more in-depth looks at what we saw and who we heard from on the exhibit floor as we go through our notes and interviews from the week.

At the end of the conference day on Wednesday, May 18th, there was a special visual treat for attendees as Sculpteo sponsored a fashion show. With the first two designs on the runway created by Sculpteo — the Virus Collection from designer Anastasia Ruiz, made using Sculpteo’s flexible TPU — and further collections presented from incredibly talented designers, the runway rocked as the models strutted their 3D printed stuff. While we cover 3D printed fashion regularly here at 3DPrint.com, this was the first time Clare and I had seen some of these actually worn. Some of these designs have been presented on mannequins at other shows I’ve attended, but watching them in action on the runway was its own experience. Not only that; this was my first fashion show (because I assume that watching every season of America’s Next Top Model doesn’t actually count as having attended).

Thanks to designs from Anastasia Ruiz, Rachel Nhan, Sabina Saga, Danit Peleg, and Anouk Wipprecht, my first (3D printed) fashion show was a definite hit. The crowd gathered for the show certainly proved the curiosity about and popularity of the idea of 3D printed fashion design; fortunately Clare and I snagged second-row seats about 20 minutes early, as the entire area was completely filled with an excited crowd thrilled to see and take photos of the entire event as the collections were on display.

The show was held where the 3D Art Gallery had been hosted throughout the rest of the event, the runway previously filled with exhibits of truly impressive creations made possible thanks to 3D technology. With the fashion show, the art took on a new form. Of course, as with any fashion show, most of the looks weren’t exactly street-ready — but we can certainly see where the alien and the ready-to-wear are starting to collide in some of the pieces. While I’m not sure I’m ready to rock a 3D printed frock, several of the details illustrated that 3D printing is really getting ready to appear on actual humans, such as fabric dresses embellished with 3D printed enhancements. And of course, some of the more futuristic, masked, structural, and ‘artsy’ pieces simply were beautiful to look at and show incredible inspiration on their designers’ parts.

Rather than tell you about the runway, I’d prefer to show you all: here, in two parts, is video of the entire fashion show:

Following the fashion show, the models were available on the floor during the networking event that then kicked off. Event goers were able to approach the models and see the designs up close, even touching the materials and asking about how they felt to wear.

Additionally, Sculpteo noted that the fashion show featured designs we’ve seen before and elaborated on their part in the experience. All told, the show was a fabulous 15 minutes of fierce fashion showing us all what’s becoming possible through the marriage of technology and fashion design — and I for one can’t wait to see what else comes of this partnership as time moves on.

Below are more photos from the event. Do you see a big future for 3D printed fashion? Let’s discuss in the Sculpteo Fashion Show Offers 3D Printed Designs forum at 3DPB.com.

Rachel Nhan’s collection

Danit Peleg with her models