3D Printed Apparel Integrates Weaponry: Israeli Student Designs Collection to Include Spikes, Rope, Cable

While clothing is meant to be a protective device, unless it’s the dead of winter or we are heading out on a primitive camping trip we tend to forget that and focus solely on style. Getting dressed for work in the morning–or just a Saturday outing–is generally more centered on how you look, rather than who you might need to fend off, spike in the face, and then tie up with either a choice of rope or cables.

Israeli fashion student Nitzan Kish is using the 3D printer for producing apparel that secures the body for whatever dangerous situation might arise in the ‘urban sphere.’ Reminiscent of Mad Max garb, style of the apocalyptic sort is not amiss here–but watch out. While fashion can often be misunderstood, the statement Kish is making with her veritable armor is pretty obvious. It says look–and you are going to, because of the unique and even lovely style–but if you even think about messing with me, you will get hurt.

Kish attends the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, in Jerusalem. Currently, her fashion theme is both in protecting women and attacking the general issue of violence on women in Israel. All 3D printed, the line of clothing is called ‘Me, Myself, and I,’ and can actually be weaponized, used as ropes, flexicuffs, and spikes. Designed and 3D printed in perfect detail, each part of the ‘Me, Myself, and I’ collection is composed of detailed, intricate links–and they serve to protect.

“Women around the world can print the items, wear all or parts of the clothing and be equipped with a ready means for self-defense and survival on their bodies,” says Kish.

The 3D printed modular pieces interlock on the torso and are meant to move fluidly with the body. They can be rearranged and disassembled, and worn in numerous unique combinations. The set consists of the:

• Back spike
• Elbow spike
• Cable tie bracelet
• Rope

The idea is for women to decide on what their needs are and eventually be able to 3D print the pieces in such a way that they are able to protect themselves swiftly, whether they are in need of ropes and cables, or must ward off predators with reptilian-like spikes.

“The harsh figures from Israel for 2014 attest to every woman suffering from sexual harassment. One out of three women suffers a sexual assault and approximately 80% of the women in Israel live in constant fear from sexual assault,” states Kish on her project page. “One out of every four women in Israel suffers an attempted rape. In a study published in May, 2015, 98% of sexual assaults were not reported at all, due to the lack of faith among most of the public in their police force and authorities. This means – there is a problem, but there are no solutions from either the authorities or among the existing proposals for self-defense.”

The young designer is driven to bring these issues to the forefront, and has picked a good medium in using fashion–after all, that’s where questions are asked. Where did you get that? What colors does it come in? How does it work? And most importantly: why?

“Regarding responses to attacks and extreme situations in general, it is difficult to predict the nature of the response and therefore I am attempting to rely on and strengthen the automatic responses of women and to grant them the tools for this purpose,” says Kish. “My dream is to create many additional possibilities for response, including a variety of articles of clothing, connectors and other options for action that will correspond to different parts of the body and to various automatic responses.”

With the power of 3D printing, not only can women protect themselves on the city streets, but they can use and customize the pieces that work for them. Kish plans to make all the files available online so that women can create their own apparel and work them into different combinations–and fashion weaponry. The designer is still working with different types of materials in 3D printing, but currently the pieces for ‘Me, Myself, and I’ are fabricated with Nylon 12.

How do you think Kish’s idea for integrating protection into clothing will change the future of clothing for women in more dangerous urban areas? Have you thought of creating and 3D printing anything in a similar style? Discuss in the 3D Printed Apparel With Integrated Weaponry forum thread over at 3DPB.com.