D-House Urban Laboratory on Using 3D Printing for Luxury Brands

A study by the Additive Manufacturer Green Trade Association (AMGTA), conducted in Italy in collaboration with Dyloan Bond Factory and Stratasys, highlighted that the use of 3D printing in the fashion and luxury sectors could lead to considerable time and resource savings for companies. AMGTA, which is committed to enhancing the sustainable aspect of additive manufacturing, wanted to emphasize the greater sustainability of some additive manufacturing processes in the fashion and luxury design fields, compared to traditional methods.

To delve deeper into the topic and better understand how additive manufacturing is being used today for the luxury sector and what the future developments of the technology may be, we interviewed Loreto Di Rienzo, R&D Director of D-house Urban Laboratory & Pattern Group (a group of which Dyloan Bond Factory is also a member). Based in Milan, D-house Urban Laboratory, has been involved in R&D in the Fashion, Design and Automotive sectors since 2020, studying and encouraging applications of 3D printing in these markets.

3DN: Could you introduce yourself and your connection to 3D printing?

Loreto Di Rienzo

Hi! I’m Loreto Di Rienzo, R&D Director of D-house Urban Laboratory & Pattern Group and in my work I deal with innovation in fashion. Being a sensitive and interested person in new technologies, I have followed 3D printing since its birth and throughout its evolution and eventual application in fashion. On this path, around 2017 I came across the 3DFashion™ technology from Stratasys that allows 3D printing directly on fabric (with the so-called Direct to Garment process) and I began to realize that this technology could be useful in the industry. From there a whole phase of experimentation interest began.

3DN: How did D-house Urban Laboratory come about and what is its mission?

The idea of D-house was born years ago. Having always worked in the world of clothing, at the stage of popularizing the application of technologies, we have always tried to take alternative paths to the standard ones, hovering between the world of fashion and technology. We always had a showroom in Milan, where customers came, but with a purely passive role. So we started to think about a space where creativity, technology, and know-how could interact-all fundamental elements to get a product.

In 2019, we set up the idea of making an urban laboratory made available to technology makers and designers as a meeting point to start developing to go down some paths to get new products and processes. Thus, in January 2020, D-house was born, the Urban Lab where we shape the sustainable future of the Fashion, Design and Automotive sectors through research projects, events and trainings.

The headquarters of D-Hause, the Urban Laboratory

3DN: How does D-house use additive manufacturing?

In D-house we love to experiment and test applications of new technologies: additive manufacturing is one of them. We started with fabric embellishments by experimenting with different materials, and then went down avenues where additive manufacturing could concretely make products such as buttons, handles, accessories, buckles, all the way up to actual artifacts and soles. We specifically use Stratasys’ 3DFashion™ technology to make details or entire garments and accessories. We also work, in addition, with powder bed, resin, and metal technologies, but in this case we collaborate with external suppliers that allow us to have different products.

Stratasys’ 3DFashion™ technology allows printing directly onto fabrics

3D printing can have different applications, being able to produce both decorative and functional elements. Regarding different markets and sectors, we have seen that, for example, in the automotive world there is great interest in customizing elements of car interiors. The same in the design world for the customization of lamps and other home accessories. In fashion, on the other hand, 3D printing is still little known net of a few small applications in accessories. This is precisely why we are committed to the dissemination of know-how through our contacts gained from more than 30 years in the field.

In general, 3D printing holds a lot of potential in many different fields. This is due, on one hand, to the development of hardware and higher-performance and faster machines, and on the other to the study of new materials with superior performance that will be able to replace functional elements. 3D printing is in my opinion an incredibly growing trend.

3D printing was used to customize the Maserati’s interior fabrics

3DN: Who are your customers and why do they come to you?

Our clients are luxury brands that operate in the Design and Furniture, Automotive or Fashion sectors: these are the ones that are somehow more inclined to experimentation therefore to the use of new technologies and applications that obviously in the initial phase are a bit more expensive and require fine-tuning. The luxury segment then is also the one that in some way initiates new processes and technologies, which then also become the domain of the lower-end brands.

3DN: What are some D-house projects in which 3D printing has played an important role?

Among the most important projects is the one carried out with Maserati, for which we made the interiors of two showcars for last Milan Design Week; we then worked on a project for Dior. While for the last edition of Pitti Filati 94, we created 3D printed bezels made to house Swarovski crystals: once again functional and decorative parts meet.

Exhibition at the Pitti Filati 94 event

3DN: Any last words for our readers?

The world of 3D printing is a world that has just entered the fashion world and therefore a world that needs to be interpreted and discovered. It represents a technology that needs a great deal of expertise, but on the other hand, it is important to have an open-minded approach to best interpret it and use it as an innovative and experimental tool to go beyond the current application possibilities.

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*All Photo Credits: D-House Urban Laboratory