Apr 15, 2016 | By Tess
Over the past few years, we have followed some truly amazing advancements in 3D printed garments and fashion, though in most cases, the designs, though stunning and impressive, have remained mostly suitable for the runway or a museum. There have been however, a number of efforts that have shown us that the technology is well on its way to producing every day wearables, like the currently in development Modeclix technology for making 3D printed textile, and Danit Peleg’s collection of 3D printed garments, made on a desktop 3D printer.
Recently, Boston based menswear brand, Ministry of Supply, unveiled its most recent garment, a entirely additively manufactured Seamless Jacket. The form fitting and smart looking piece of apparel was manufactured using a 3D Robotic Knitting process (Wholegarment knitting), which allows the garment to be made as one single piece, meaning no bothersome loose seams, and no sewn on pockets or lapels.
The menswear company, which has made a name for itself with high performance men’s business fashion, was founded in 2012 by a team of former MIT students who integrated the same temperature regulating materials that NASA uses for astronaut suits into their everyday designs.
Their Seamless Jacket is made from a 4-way stretch, moisture wicking, viscose and PBT blend, and will retail for $250 dollars, keeping it competitive with other medium range design brands.
"This is the next generation of manufacturing and design for clothing," says Gihan Amarasiriwardena, co-founder and chief design officer at Ministry of Supply. "It could lead to a world where a customer could walk into a store, have measurements taken via a scan and order a garment that's printed for their unique body shape. The result is clothing that's constructed to shape around our bodies and molds to fit the human form exactly.”
Perhaps what is most exciting about the 3D knitted garment is its increased sustainability. That is, by using additive manufacturing processes rather than subtractive processes (think cutting apart large swaths of fabric), the jacket actually uses less material than a regularly made garment. Additionally, Ministry of Supply have only released a first run of 50 jackets, after which it is implied that they will make the jackets either to order or in series of small batches, doing away with the less sustainable philosophy of mass manufacturing held by many retailers.
The Seamless Jacket also only takes about 1.5 hours to manufacture on the 3D knitting machine and is specially designed so that certain areas of the garment are thinner and more breathable than others with ventilation patterns, to optimize comfort and long term wear.
Ministry of Supply, known for their innovative designs and fashions, seem to be finally bringing men’s fashion into the sphere of 3D printed or 3D knitted clothing, where women’s fashion has tended to reign. With their Seamless Jacket, which would look stylish on the street or in the office, they have also helped to show the viability of additive manufacturing technologies for everyday wearables. At 3Ders we can’t wait to see what they design next!
Posted in 3D Printer
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If that's 3d printing you need to do some pieces on potting wheels too that's additive, so it welding.
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