Apr. 24, 2015 | By Alec
It’s a big week for major Belgian 3D printing provider Materialise, as they will be hosting the Materialise World Conference in Brussels, Belgium, over the next couple of days. Coinciding with that event, an entirely different but interesting project by Materialise debutes: The 3D printed Cabrio eyewear collection, which has been developed in collaboration with Belgian design studio Hoet.
This beautiful collection includes four pairs of unique sunglasses and two designs for regular glasses. But all six are, as Hoet put it in their press release, ‘created at the intersection of traditional premium eyewear designs and advanced additive manufacturing technologies.’ While prominent 3D printing company Materialise needs no introduction, Hoet is a family-owned design studio from Bruges, Belgium. They specialize in the design of exclusive original and innovating eye wear collections. While experimentation with strange materials and technologies is thus not uncommon for them, 3D printing isn’t in their repertoire.
As the family studio argued, they are constantly on the look-out for new design solutions that create a a balance between aesthetics, functionality, technology, and ergonomics. Of course, this means running into the constraints of conventional manufacturing technologies sooner or later. Fortunately, a trial collaboration with Materialise in 2013 proved to be so successful, that this entire collection just had to follow.
As Bieke Hoet, one of the Founders of Hoet Design Studio, revealed, 3D printing technology enabled them to achieve new designs which could not be realized by traditional production techniques. ‘Our close collaboration with the engineering team at Materialise helped us in the physical realization of our ideas, putting the added values that 3D print has to offer in the daylight.’
The entire set is completely ‘made in Belgium’, they further assure us and will offer their wearers a number of aesthetical, functional and economic benefits to. ‘I find it especially exciting to be able to launch these glasses under the watchful eye of the world’s leading experts in meaningful 3D Printing applications,’ Hoet adds. Each pair is only made available after an extensive control procedure and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity. CEO of Materialise, Wilfried Vancraen, also wears a pair.
Want a pair? They are now available at the Hoet Eyewear Shops in Brussels and Bruges, and at a small number of optical shops throughout the world. Look here to find a shop near you.
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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They already had a 3d printed line 2years ago, made in titanium by Melotte in Belgium. http://couture.hoet.eu/en/collectie/MTU5Mg--/
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