Meet the World’s First 3D Printing Fashion Shows

Where would you find the most high-tech fashion shows of the year? If you can believe it, one took place just last week, not in a fashion center such as New York or Los Angeles, but at an Atlanta, Georgia exposition on additive manufacturing solutions.

Held as part of the annual RAPID conference, the 3D Fabulous Fashion Show featured accessories exclusively made using 3D printing technology, which can be used to quickly and relatively inexpensively manufacture anything from hats and shoes to the components needed for reconstructive jaw surgery. Sponsored by Belgian company Materialise, the show included hats and accessories printed both by experienced and emerging designers, including Elvis Pompilio, Niccolo Casas and Daniel Widrig. This show followed Materialise’s own April show in Belgium of 3D printed creations, marking the first runway show entirely devoted to fashion made using the technology.

These days, there’s much talk about 3D printing and its potential for revolutionizing product manufacturing, and these recent fashion shows are just more signs of its relevance to fashion audiences around the world.

The above slideshow features images from the Materialise show in April and last week’s 3D Fabulous Fashion Show, as well as some product close-ups of items featured on the runway.

[Photo credits: images eight and nine courtesy Robb D. Cohen for RAPID 3D Fabulous Fashion Show; all other images by Raffaella Quaranta, Materialise Fashion Show.]

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