3D Printing Fashion for Marvel’s Black Panther Movie

One of the most inspiring leaders in 3D printing right now is Julia Koerner, an Austrian-born architect, UCLA professor, pioneer of 3D printed fashion, and most recently, she collaborated with costume designer Ruth Carter for the smash hit movie Black Panther.We first met Julia at the 2017 RAPID + TCT Show in Pittsburgh where Julia’s incredible 3D printed fashion designs were adorning models on the runway, proving that 3D printing is already en vogue. At the expo hall where Julia was promoting her event, she mentioned that she’s been using MatterHackers filament on a RAISE3D for some of her prototypes! Her designs were then finalized and produced on Stratasys 3D printers.Julia discovered 3D printing through architectural courses in Vienna at the University of Applied Arts and capitalized on her knowledge of the technology in her first product development job in London. After a move to Los Angeles in 2012, Julia was swept into the world of fashion, using her 3D printing and architecture expertise to develop innovative runway designs.

Julia pulls inspiration for her unique designs from replicating ordinary shapes found in nature; portobello mushrooms, underwater sea creatures, pinecones, and other organic shapes are characteristic of what Julia likes to synthesize into her fashions.

Julia has collaborated with high fashion designers such as Iris Van Herpen between 2012-2014 for Paris Haute Couture Shows. She uses her RAISE3D printer to prototype pieces that resemble traditional fabrics for softer looking garments that have a unique and modern flare. While haute couture is 3D printing their way into new, innovative looks, not everybody can afford to wear them. A $30,000 price tag for a unique garment worn to the Met Gala is out of the average shopper’s price range.Marvel Studio’s newest smash hit, Black Panther, was the first Hollywood production Julia took part in. She was brought on to give life to Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter’s vision for Queen Ramonda’s regal look – bringing traditional African culture together with new-age technology. The goal was for the garments to look like they could NOT have been made by hand. The shoulder mantle needed to mimic a lace pattern, but be rigid enough to hold its shape and form while the actress was performing. The perfectly cylindrical crowns were designed with a parametrically-grown radii pattern which can only be produced by CAD software – or whatever advanced technology they’ve developed in Wakanda. Developing these costumes really pushed the limits of the design software, as well as the materials and laser sintering capabilities of Materialise in Belgium, who fabricated the pieces on one of the largest 3D printers in the world.

“It was so exciting to work with the costume design team at Marvel Studios to develop these pieces from scratch, and to work with Materialise to find the right materials to make the designs possible in a short time frame,” says Julia.