Burlesque dancer and actress Dita Von Teese debuted the world’s first 3D printed dress in NYC, March 4. The dress unlike other apparels was printed and not sewn.
The gown has not been designed by any ace fashion house but by Shapeways, a 3D printing company. The basic design was provided by Michael Schmidt and 3D effects were added by architect Francis Bitonti.
The nylon dress has been made using a high technology 3D printer, which builds solid objects by layering the fabrics. Seventeen separate pieces were put together, dyed black and attached through 3000 folds to make it look like a normal gown. The gown has also been adorned with about 13,000 Swarovski crystals.
“The entire dress was designed on an iPad, refined over Skype, rendered digitally by Francis and sent to Shapeways for printing, an entirely virtual endeavor,” Schmidt told Wired.
Von Teese looked stunning in the cleavage baring dress and though it looked like she was naked underneath, she was wearing a nude colored corset.
The actress was the muse behind the dress and it perfectly reflects her bold personality.
“Once we have the machines better suited to doing clothing, we can do custom fits. It's very very possible to go into a change room, get a 3-D scan, and get a garment printed exactly to your fit,” Shapeways designer Duann Scott told the site. “Traditionally, all garments are either a weave or a stitch. And with 3-D printing, we can … introduce something completely different. So we can grow designs rather than just using something that's centuries-old technology. It's a whole way to move forward in fashion and clothing and textiles.”