Italian Fashion Manufacturer Uses Voxel8’s ActiveLab to 3D Print High-Fashion Accessories

Massachusetts-based digital manufacturing company Voxel8 has used its multimaterial ActiveLab 3D printing system in the past to 3D print athletic shoe uppers, as the printer is capable of fabricating flexible elastomeric materials onto textiles. Now, Eddy Ricami, a leading Italian manufacturer in the fashion industry, will be taking advantage of this fact. Voxel8 has just announced an agreement with the company, comprised of an exclusive arrangement for Eddy Ricami to use its ActiveLab printer to produce and sell high-fashion accessories.

“Voxel8 technology has gained global commercial traction in athletic and leisure footwear, and we are delighted to expand our reach into the European high fashion market with a distinguished partner such as Eddy Ricami who have built a reputation for innovation and quality. We look forward to collaborating with our partner to bring the benefits of Voxel8 technology to the fashion industry,” said Friedrich von Gottberg, who joined Voxel8 as CEO in late 2019.

Voxel8 was founded in 2014 from Harvard University, and says that its ActiveLab system can offer a total turnkey solution, which includes materials, software, and hardware, for the purposes of 3D printing functional features onto textiles, such as footwear, apparel, and other related products.

“Our technology fundamentally transforms how fashion footwear, apparel and accessories are developed and produced. It enables manufacturers to offer unique design embellishments to their customers with shorter design cycle times, reduced manufacturing lead times and inventory costs, and lowers costs associated with tooling, freight and tariffs,” explained Percy Chinoy, the Director of Business Development at Voxel8.”

The Voxel8 ActiveLab System fundamentally transforms how footwear, apparel, and accessories are developed and produced.

The company’s ActiveLab system makes it possible for its digital manufacturing customers to create interesting, unique design embellishments with a reduced manufacturing lead time and design cycle, which is part of what makes it so appealing to Eddy Ricami. Based out of Montecosaro in Italy’s Marche region, the manufacturer has been working with the fashion industry for more than two decades, and sets itself apart from its competitors by using innovative, up-to-date methods of fabrication, such as 3D printing, while also preserving what it calls “the artisan care of its work,” to create solutions based on digital manufacturing and embroidery.

Eddy Ricami has three manufacturing facilities, all of which are close to high fashion customers. Now that it’s set up Voxel8’s ActiveLab system in its Montecosaro headquarters, the company can respond even more quickly to the demands of the fashion industry, which is utilizing 3D printing more and more these days.

These are not 3D printed, but a good indicator of Eddy Ricami’s style when it comes embellished accessories. (Image courtesy of Eddy Ricami)

“Through our purchase of the ActiveLab^® system we look to bring new, customized design elements to our customers, leveraging the latest in additive manufacturing technology. In our evaluation of 3D printing offerings, we found Voxel8’s technology was uniquely positioned for printing on textiles. This is an example of our continued commitment to implement innovative technical solutions to provide our customers with distinctive products,” stated Gianluca Bordoni, the CEO and Owner of Eddy Ricami.

Eddy Ricami will able to realize its high-fashion customers’ personalized, custom-designed product ideas much faster using Voxel8’s ActiveLab printer, while also incurring “virtually no incremental cost” and negating the typical supply chain risks associated with overseas fabrication. It’s definitely a win-win situation.

(Images: Voxel8, unless otherwise noted)