Fashion designer Bradley Rothenberg revealed some new 3D printed clothes at the new York Fashion Week

Sep 12, 2014 09:49 GMT  ·  By

The start of 3D printing technology in fashion may not have been the greatest, since nylon dresses aren't exactly glamorous or comfortable, but was a sufficiently eye-catching start for designers to get on the bandwagon and try to outdo everyone else.

There's nothing like a friendly rivalry to spark progress, and that's exactly what's happening in the fashion industry.

The latest edition of the New York Fashion Week is a clear indicator of that. The majority of the outfits on display weren't 3D printed, but a fair few nonetheless were.

More specifically, fashion designer Bradley Rothenberg brought several different garments, all of which were made from new 3D printed materials.

The 3D printed textiles

You see, it's no longer a simple matter of just printing a whole dress, or whatever else, from nylon and hoping for the best.

You can't exactly use the same materials, patterns, and seams for tank tops, shirts, dresses, skirts, and everything else. Fashion is all about variety, uniqueness.

Among the things he came up with were 3D printed details for skirts and jackets, as well as accents to another designer’s works (Katya Leonovich's SS15 line).

However, he still had one, fully 3D printed garment to reveal, although it doesn't look as if it was made in a single run at all: a tank top.

The 3D printed tank top

It is a 3D printed project from nylon. Bradley Rothenberg decided to collaborate with another designer, Katie Gallagher, when he developed it, and printed it in a single run, made of a single piece.

It's interesting to note that the tank top might actually make you think it's not 3D printed at all, thanks to the cellular pattern. A laser sintering printer was used, you see, to solidify nylon powder accordingly, one layer at a time.

Because of that, it looks as though the tank top was assembled out of a myriad of different parts, instead of being a single whole.

The interlocking pattern doesn't just look great, but it's also flexible and comfortable, or so the fashion experts claim. We certainly won't blame you if you remain skeptical about wearing nylon directly on your skin.

Future projects

There hasn't been much word on upcoming 3D printed fashion show events. We doubt there will be many high-profile fashion shows that will skip on 3D printing, at least for a while, but it's hard to say how successful the promotion attempts will be.

The probability is high than this field will only take off once 3D printers gain the ability to create clothes from things other than nylon or variations of it.

3D printed clothing by Bradley Rothernber et al. (7 Images)

The 3D Printed tank top
The 3D Printed tank top close-upThe 3D Printed nylon textile
+4more