Rapper ‘Boyfriend’ Adds to Live Performance with 3D Printed, LED-lit Bra  

New Orleans is known not only for its incredible music history, but also for being a place that welcomes and embraces unique artists of all styles.

While we can’t all have the luxury of being constantly immersed in such an exciting culture, many artists such as rapper ‘Boyfriend’ bring not only controversial music over the airwaves and online—but now, some added innovation to the female undergarment via 3D printing–and taking the ‘under’ out of it as well.

Boyfriend has been shaking it up in the music scene, and while taking a lot of her cues in costuming from the famous NOLA burlesque scene, she wanted something new and different, updating the typical sequined bra look.

Contacting industrial designer Frances Guevara, Boyfriend (real name unknown) explained what she was looking for and while they used the iconic Madonna cone-style bra as a foundation to work from, both Boyfriend and Guevara wanted a bit more flash.

“She came to me wanting [to] update her stage uniform–high wasted panties with a sequin bra–and do something innovative and different, to match her persona,” Guevara told 3DPrint.com.“I chose to do a modern version of a cone bra, an iconic garment popularized by Madonna and Jean-Paul Gaultier in the 90s. The corset cone bra that Madonna wore emulated her innate power, sexuality, and femininity.”

Guevara, founder and CEO of New Orleans’ Printing House, used 3D printing, and added blue LED lights to take the bra out of its normal comfort zone—even by Madge’s previous standards.

“I wanted the design of my bra for Boyfriend to achieve the same symbolism, but to take it a step further and capture another dimension, time. The cut outs are modeled off of time lapse images of the sky, where the light of the stars reveal these rhythmic patterns,” Guevara told 3DPrint.com.

“Time is again referenced, more immediately with the lights themselves. They can be programmed to change color or blink with the beat of the music. This interactive feature gives the wearer an added layer of choreography, elevating the performance in my opinion. “

Guevara was able to fit the rapper by modeling the 3D printed bra exactly to her body with a full body scan. It was then 3D printed thanks to Louisiana’s Innovative Digital Manufacturing, printing in nylon on a Fortus 400. The designer explained that the bra was 3D printed in four separate pieces.

“The top of the cones come off so the lights can be changed out,” said Guevara. “They are held together with magnets. Straps were sewn on at the end to bring it all together.”

The teacher (yes, you read that correctly) and rapper Boyfriend is an underground artist dedicated to a number of subjects regarding gender and some pretty personal female issues. Her main focus is on ‘sex positivity,’ bent on persuading everyone to lighten up a bit, as well as encouraging women to have a positive perspective on their own sexuality. With this, she’s offering us a cool new perspective on the costume—and the bra, thanks to artistry, some unique and risky fashion sense, and the new technology of 3D printing.

While we don’t have dates yet, the 3D printed, lighted bra will be debuted on Boyfriend’s next tour.

Are you familiar with Boyfriend’s boundary-pushing music? Have you created any unique 3D printed fashion of your own? Discuss in the Boyfriend 3D Printed Bra forum thread over at 3DPB.com.