Although the audience wasn’t aware, some of the fashion on the runway at Fashfest was made with a 3D printer. Yes, a printer. What happened to making good old paper patterns and cutting fabric with good old scissors you ask? Welcome to the world of fashion in 2015 and beyond. By Wendy Johnson.
Charne Esterhuizen from Haus Models wears 3D printed bracelet by MAAK. Photograph by Robert Coppa
Organisations like the Australian 3D Manufacturing Association (A3DMA) and Engineer 3D are on to the infinite possibilities of this new-age technology. So too are an increasing number of fashion designers like those behind the label Mimetic, Melissa Pompeani and George McWilliam, and MAAK, Charne Esterhuizen, who are all recent graduates from the Canberra Institute of Technology.
Without getting technical, 3D manufacturing is the production of a physical object from a digital design. Today’s machines can make objects from almost any material, including plastic, glass, steel, and ceramics. Some items take an hour to produce and others much longer—depending on size and complexity. A shoe, for example, can take up to eight hours. A simple piece of jewellery much less.
Charne Esterhuizen wears 3D printed bracelet by A3DMA. Photograph by Robert Coppa
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