Today we had the pleasure of having supermodel Coco Rocha visit the Shapeways factory in NYC to investigate how 3D printing will change the world of fashion in the very near future.

After quickly learning how to program our 3D printers (not our first 3D printing engineer to work in heels) we got down to discussing some of our recent adventures in 3D printed fashion with the gown for Dita Von Teese, the collection with Kimberly Ovitz and thousands of designs from the Shapeways community inspiring designers around the world.

Coco is known for her business acumen, charitable work and tech savvy.  She has appeared on the cover of a kazillion magazines (check out her site for proof) a number of tv shows AND was mentioned by Kanye West...

We look forward to seeing how Coco takes 3D printing to the fashion world. 

Congratulations to Kimberly Ovitz for getting her Shapeways range of 3D printed jewelry into the April 2013 edition of Elle Magazine.  The fashion and jewelry industry has become one of the fastest growth markets for 3D printing with designers such as Kimberly Ovitz, Ursa Major and Vera Meat joining the existing Shapeways community as a way to sell their 3D printed designs.

We have just raised the bar for Silver 3D printing at Shapeways with the introduction of Premium Silver.

Premium Silver is our 3D printed Sterling Silver taken to the next level with an incredibly smooth, glossy surface to give your designs a truly professional finish. We will be offering Premium Silver for a six week trial until Tuesday May the 14th, during which we will assess the pricing and design rules. If you love this new finish as much as we already do, we will keep it as a permanent material option on Shapeways.

Last night at the Ace Hotel in New York to a crowd of uber-cool fashonistas and paparazzi we revealed the 3D printed gown designed by Michael Schmidt and Francis Bitonti modeled by queen of burlesque Dita Von Teese. 

The fully articulated gown based on the Fibonacci sequence was designed by Michael Schmidt and 3D modeled by architect Francis Bitonti to be 3D printed in Nylon by Shapeways.  The gown was assembled from 17 pieces, dyed black, lacquered and adorned with over 13,000 Swarovski crystals to create a sensual flowing form.

3D Printing is not only about mouse clicks and lasers, there is also a lot of hands-on work required to take an item from bits to atoms, that is why we are always looking for talented people to help make things real in our Eindhoven and New York offices.  Every model is lovingly removed from the various 3D printers, cleaned (sometimes dyed) and shipped around the world.  We do not always get to see what you then do to the parts, what post processing you undertake to make them even more beautiful, but when we do, it inspires us and makes all of the long hours worthwhile.

We recently featured Rachel Goth's work on the Shapeways blog but I thought it was worth taking another look based purely on the dying of the products that make her Marmalade Park designs look amazing.  Here are some images from her Flickr account to inspire you.

As we see more and more fashion designers like Kimberly Ovitz embrace 3D printing as a way to take their designs direct to market we need to discuss what directions are most suitable to be explored in 3D printing fashion.  Jewelry is an easy win when we can 3D print items in materials such as Stainless Steel and Sterling Silver but we are also seeing more and more textile like geometries being 3D printed in Nylon to create digital fabrics.  

Eyebeam in New York City is hosting a panel discussion on Fashion Innovations in 3D Printing on the 27th of February to explore the intersection between fashion and 3D printing highlighting collaborations between fashion designers, technologists and manufacturers such as Shapeways.

As part of the Computational Fashion program series, Eyebeam presents an exciting event featuring designers and producers using cutting edge 3D printing techniques to push the boundaries of fashion. From the runway to the DIY hackerspace, 3D printing and rapid prototyping have become an increasingly popular and accessible way to produce objects that are both highly complex and easily replicable.  

Presenters include:

Joris Debo, Creative Director (.MGX by Materialise)

Duann Scott, Designer Evangelist (Shapeways)

Bradley Rothenberg, architect & Gabi Asfour, designer (threeASFOUR)

Alexandra Samuel, Dan Selden & Ross Leonardy (Crowd Control)

Date:  27 Feb 2013

Hours:  6:30PM

Cost:  $10 Venue:  

Venue:  Eyebeam, 540 W 21st St  New York, NY 10011

Tickets are now available

Image via Flickr Some rights reserved by ol slambert

This friday we celebrate fashion week in NYC which saw Shapeways 3D Printed jewelry hit the runway as part of the latest Kimberly Ovitz Collection which is now available exclusively via Shapeways. We are also about to unveil and amazing fully 3D printed dress designed by Michael Schmidt with the expert assistance of Francis Bitonti who transformed Michael's concept into a fully articulated 3D form that is to be worn by Dita Von Teese at the uber-cool Ace Hotel.

Luckily you do not have to be in New York to get cutting edge 3D printed fashion as it is already available on Shapeways.

The Squama Ring by Kimberly Ovitz

The Embrace Ring by Kioro Design

stag beetle pendant by martinkrcha 

Ribbon Double Ring by Aminimal  

Often the most meaningful gifts are the ones that you make yourself for the one you love.  Buying a bunch of roses and a teddy bear from the gas station on the way home on Valentine's Day although efficient, is not exactly romantic.  Shapeways community member jrey made a beautiful gift for his wife for their second wedding anniversary.

Jrey's wife is from the Bahamas so he designed a sea shell ring and set of earrings to remind her of home and had them 3D printed in Sterling Silver by Shapeways.  The jewelry looks beautiful and she absolutely loved them.  Now this is the only jewelry of it's kind in the entire world, made especially for one woman designed for her alone by her husband.  This is the kind of gift that will be passed on for generations, with the grandmother telling the granddaughter the story of it's creation, and the depth of meaning that far exceeds any item bought off of the shelf. 

VertigoPolka has designed a giant 7 foot long 3D printed necklace of 185 interconnected Octahedrons.  The super cool image may catch your eye but the price will blow your mind.  But if 7 feet of 3D printed awesomeness is too much for you there is also the original 36 Inch Octahedralink Necklace and the mid length 55 Inch version.  Or get all three and strut your stuff with 175 inches (4.45 metres) of 3D printed jewelry around your neck.

Decoded Fashion hosted an event focussing on 3D Printing fashion. From fashion-forward dresses and shoes to masculine jewelry, they got together to discuss the latest innovation in 3D printing. At Space 530, the heart of NYC's fashion district, 5 presenters spoke to an intimate audience about this prime example of the FashionTech intersection.

The Presenters

Shapeways: Carine talks how our community of members (you) "make stuff" from jewelry to glasses to handbags.

GothamSmith: These four New Yorkers use "robots" (Shapeways) to 3-D print menswear accessories such as cufflinks.

Continuum Fashion: Part fashion label, part design label (200%awesome), Continuum Fashion uses digital technologies to create user-generated fashion collections.

Shulogique: Imagine a high-end stiletto specially created to fit the biomechanics of your foot.