The Second 3D Printed Nervous System Petal Dress Debuts in Sydney Museum

You’d be amazed at how inspiring it can be to write about the 3D printing industry. As one innovation after another floods in, each usually relevant to a different industry, it’s like having a continual—and completely fascinating—mini-education in every field, from medicine to space travel. And while nothing could be more uplifting than ending the day writing about conjoined twins who are successfully separated after receiving an original, dire prognosis or adaptive athletes competing in events like the Paralympics, performing against all odds, sometimes it’s great just to take a breather and soak in some incredible fashion designs. This is a favorite subject for many of us in regards to 3D printing, as we get to see that merging of true art, design, and technology—all generally resulting in very pretty things.

What’s even more exciting is that when fabricated apparel is coming down the runway from Nervous System, you know we’re surpassing the world of 3D, and lingering in the next dimension for a while as their intuitive apparel adapts completely to the human form. And while I’m not sure what the men will think, if you are female and reading this, you’ll probably have one thing to say about the new Kinematics Petal Dress: I want one.

The latest Petal Dress, post 3D printing, but before being dyed.

Commissioned for design by the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences in Sydney, Australia, the Nervous System team made this second Petal Dress for the Out of Hand: Materializing the Digital exhibit, running from September 3, 2016 ’til June 25, 2017. And unfortunately, unless they begin making copies for the masses, you won’t see this dress hanging in anyone’s closet as it is to become part of the museum’s permanent collection after the exhibit, which offers a focus on “the increasingly important role of digital manufacture in contemporary art, science, fashion, design and architecture.”

We’ve enjoyed following Nervous System since they unveiled their Kinematics cloth material, 4D printing a dress which consists of 2,279 unique triangular panels interconnected by 3,316 individual hinges. That particular design is now owned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Since, we’ve seen a long line of projects and designs emanating out of the Somerville, Massachusetts studio, from more 4D dresses to bio-inspired 3D printables and even 3D printed jewelry. We also reported on the predecessor to this dress, the first Kinematics Petal Dress in what now seems to be a series—with the initial design commissioned for a Boston Museum of Fine Arts show.

This incredible garment features 2,191 unique interconnected elements, meant to remind one of ‘overlapping plumes.’ Created with an SLS 3D printer, this nylon dress is actually made in one piece, giving a whole new meaning to ready wear! While each piece is rigid, according to the designers, when connected as a whole, the dress is able to move fluidly as one continual—and lovely—whole.

“We employ a smart folding strategy to compress Kinematics garments into a smaller form for efficient fabrication. By folding the garments prior to printing them, we can make complex structures larger than a 3D printer, that unfold into their intended shape,” states the Nervous System design team.

To get a true feel for the beauty of this dress, check out the video below. The Nervous System team worked with the dancer Fhi B-Ado and photographer Steve Marsel to bring you some beautiful images of this latest Kinematics Petal Dress. You can find out more about Nervous System’s design projects here. Discuss this topic further in the 3D Printed Kinematics Petal Dress forum over at 3DPB.com.