Over the past few years, a large number of designers have increasingly turned to additive manufacturing as a production method for their masterpieces. Whether at the Chanel Fashion Show, the Paris Fashion Show or even at Dolce and Gabbana – the trend towards innovation in the field of fashion is unstoppable. Anouk Wipprecht, FashionTech designer from the Netherlands, knows this better than anyone. Having already worked with celebrities such as the Black Eyed Peas, Britney Spears or even Fergie, she is known for taking creative risks. Wipprecht, who, in addition to focusing on artificial intelligence, robotics and mechanics as well as machine learning, also uses 3D printing to create her fashion, stole the show with her 3D-printed dress creations at a recent event in New York.
The occasion was the opening of Journey, a theatrical gastronomy event in the city which consists of the manipulation of five sensory experiences for a fine dining adventure. This opened to the public on January 5. Already a feast for the eyes, the 3D printed costumes brought the aesthetics to the next level.
One of the 3D printed garments.
Wipprecht and Shapeways Work Together on Fashion From 3D Printing
In the past, the Netherlands-based tech designer has chosen to collaborate with the company Shapeways to produce outfits reminiscent of robots. The 3D-printed parts were made of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) as well as polyamide 11 (PA 11). As for the technologies employed in the process, selective laser sintering (SLS) was used, as well as the HP Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) process. The reason behind this lies in the subsequent properties of the parts. While Wipprecht used SLS in her work with Shapeways to produce more stable parts, MJF found its application in this case more with more flexible parts. Wipprecht even emphasized the benefits of TPU when used on MJF 3D printers as follows: “With this process, we were able to make the parts both flexible and convenient for our plaster cast, while integrating it with the technology and electronics. TPU has rubbery flexibility, good impact resistance and is tough, so it’s perfect for this type of design.”
For Journey360’s inaugural event, the designer collaborated with Broadway producer Marc Routh and a collective of designers, writers, chefs, artists and performers to create a combination of “restaurant x immersive experience x fashion x robotics x projections x art and more,” as she explains on her Instagram account. To learn more about it, please click HERE.
The event also featured light engineering
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*All photo credits: Anouk Wipprecht