Multi-Paneled and Glowing in the Dark: Jiv D’s 3D Printed Dress Combines Art and Haute Couture

The London-based stylist and Fashion Director of Infringe magazine, Jiv D, obviously knows his stuff in a number of sophisticated industries from working in fashion, music, print, and video. An intensely creative soul with a penchant for technology and figuring out the puzzles of new software and manufacturing methods, he enjoys mastering a new technique, producing a stunning work, and then moving on to the next intellectual and creative challenge.

As digital design and 3D printing become firmly concreted in the world of innovation, fashion designers have the opportunity to be like kids in candy stores, on their own time with their own access to production resources. They are able to create works of art in fashion, or even items for daily wear, and produce them at will.

It used to be that one thought up a design with pen and paper, sometimes creating elaborate sketches, and then taking them to the next step with hand-sewing or manufacturing en masse. These days artists and designers have many tools among them, and while some do require a learning curve, the reward is great, as they are able to use the infinite resources of digital design where making changes is done with a click of a key rather than entirely going back to the drawing board.

The 3D printer can completely manufacture a dress, often accentuated for finishing with sewing and sometimes other offbeat methods to bring a garment design to complete fruition. Whether we are seeing designs that make a statement or designs that are actually comfortable and may appeal to many for everyday use, 3D printed ‘wearables’ are in the spotlight and may become the norm surprisingly fast.

Not many of them glow in the dark, however. Jiv D’s latest work is the 3D printed panel dress which took him nearly a month to make. “My design comes from different ideas floating around my head. I like to get lost in an idea and the idea will always keep changing as you start making it,” Jiv D told 3DPrint.com.

With about a year of 3D design and 3D printing experience, Jiv D is completely self-taught through trial and error. He began using ViaCAD to experiment with ideas and in creating a random pattern decided to 3D print it as well, putting it together in panels.

The dress is composed of about 40 pieces, each of which took an hour to print. The panels were printed using PLA filament that glows, giving an intensely unique effect to the 3D printed work of art.

“It is a similar technique to starting to make a dress in fabric, starting with the idea and then draping it around the body,” Jiv D told 3DPrint.com. “It is all connected together with split rings, which holds the pieces together and allows movement.”

“For work in fashion, magazines, music, etc., I like to make one-off pieces all the time and I like exploring new technology,” said Jiv D. “I got interested in 3D around a year ago and bought the MakerBot Replicator 2 machine which took forever to learn to use, but finally I got the hang of it with lots of random experiments.”

As a professional stylist, director, and artist, Jiv D has worked with a long list of big names in fashion and runway, advertising, publications, as well as celebrities. Have you seen any of Jiv D’s previous work? Have you created any 3D printed wearables? Tell us about it in the Jiv D’s 3D Printed Dress forum over at 3DPB.com.