3 Explorations in 3D was presented by TFIA in
collaboration with RMIT. The event was held at RMIT Design Hub, level 10. When
I walked to lecture room 6 the high corridor of silver weathered wood and
polished concrete, surrounded by luminous circular disks increased the
excitement and the expectation on what I was about hear.
 |
| picture from pagesfrommymoleskine.com |
The 3 Melbourne RMIT University London
Dr Jenny Underwood is a lecturer and
researcher in Textile and Design at RMIT University, as well as working with
transdisciplinary design projects, for example her collaboration with RMIT
Architecture on Dermoid III and Glow Space 2013.
Her research into 3D technology from a
fashion and textile perspective raise questions about what potential 3D offers
for creative practitioners. What 3D means for fashion designers and for the
clothing industry both in Australia
Dr Underwood opened the talk by making us
look into the future. Asking what does the future look like when everyone has a
3D printer at home? Answered by another
question, “will this printer be the new
bread machine” you bring it home for Christmas, use it a couple of times
and put it into the back of the cupboard, because it takes too long to print
and it’s not that great.
Is 3D printing going to change our lives, and
if so, in what way? And how will it be legislated? But what of the potential it
offers to industry. Leading onto the question of “what might a new fashion
system look like?”
The internet is supporting this revolution
with open source software, 3D modelling software with parametric modelling (CAD
software allowing you to go back into the history of your model and by changing
its parameters altering the design), as well as the potential of new materials to print with. With
these exciting developments and knowledge, comes the need for real time feed
back to inform our design process and constant critic.
Surface and Form was the title of the next
slide, talking further about 3D printing, digital printing and knitting. We were
also shown a slide from the designer Mary Katrantzou, the image was from Winter
2012 with the placement printing of the blue wrist watch on centre front.
Illustrating the ability to position a print on the body using 3D software and
then digitally printing high definition patterns and curiously what
implications this has for patternmakers.
 |
| Mary Katrantzou Winter 2012 |
One of my favourite placement prints
is from Mary Katrantzou Spring-Summer 2014 collection of magnified shoe details.
Perhaps a nod to the successful merging of 3D printed components combined with
traditional shoe making techniques, a marriage of old and new.
 |
| Mary Katrantzou SS 2014 |
Knitwear manufactures have been pioneering
the integration of 3D and 2D technology, and the market leaders in computerised
knitting technology are companies like Stoll, Shima Seiki and Santoni. These
companies have a long history of high tech design; using software to programme the
knitting machines to knit seamlessly and efficiently, increasing complexity and
reducing waste. It also changes the way a designer visualises the garment and
the possibilities for that garment using 3D modelling. There is an increased
need for team work as designers become more creatively aware and technicians
expertly skilled.
Alongside code development is also the
increased scope of material and textiles becoming available. Textiles that have
properties like elasticity and strength and can be used in other industries for
example Aerospace. Begging the question; “what is a textile? If it performs and
behaves like a textile, is it a textile?” The traditional definition of a flexible
woven network consisting of natural or artificial fibres may no longer apply
and will need to encompass other materials.
Big corporations for example Trimera who design,
produce, distribute and license apparel are also early adopters of 3D knitting
and have R&D in swimwear, lingerie and Shapewear/Slimwear. Nike is licensed
to Trimera and they are running with this new technology (pun intended), introducing
Nike Flyknit earlier this year. This lightweight and formfitting running shoe
is almost entirely seamless. Embedded in the knitted trainer are different
materials in different areas, which is a new level of complexity in knitwear.
Keeping with footwear we had a quick look
at the most recent work from London
The lecture then went onto describe four
phases for the advancement of this technology.
- Software – form building and code development
- Material – plastic objects are printed from a polyamide (nylon) powder, there is a need to develop more choice in materials, and a possibility of a whole new generation of non-wovens.
- Build Robotics – multiple materials printed simultaneously by robots
- Nano Scale Technology – machines building machines within a printing environment.
What I found interesting was the sampling
of chain mail knitted swatches that Dr Underwood showed us. As these are the
beginning stages of future ‘fine textiles’ that will speed up and created commercially
viable 3D printed clothing in the industry. Most of the 3D printed dresses that
I've seen are printed in parts and made using selective laser sintering (SLS ). The sintered nylon
is lightweight but appears rigid; it has the appearance of fine sandpaper,
corduroy or shark skin. There are also examples of designs made using fine repetitive
ribbon and lace-like lattice structures.
To give us an idea where the design
processes and systems are going we looked at a basic skirt shape created with
3D software CAD. By using parametric design principals you can set up variables
for width, length, shape and styling. This is very similar to what the Grafis pattern making
software does with construction parameter x value, in that you can have an
infinite number of variations from one basic style. The good thing is that you can test ideas
without producing a sample until you are satisfied with the design, so
prototyping comes later on in the process, reducing costs and material.
There are other disciplines that are
working in this same way, for example Architecture, Industrial Design,
Engineering and Aerospace, where I can imagine the scale of their projects
makes it expensive to prototype until the merits of their designs have been
closely examined.
Concluding this fascinating lecture were
some of Dr Underwood’s work from her research and thesis in knitting textiles.
Describing how knitting is a highly organised system, made up by a single
stitch type that can knit to shape by a tuck or miss of a stitch, that these
shapes are described by the number of stitches and number of segments. The
variables achieved in shape and texture and the complexity of these structures
where extremely impressive. As I am not a knitter they looked incredible! Comfortingly
the skills of knitting and felting and other crafts that have a long history
are something that can be leveraged on in this new world of 3D.
I would like to thank Dr Underwood for sharing her insights into 3D technology and her extensive research into knitwear.
I would like to thank Dr Underwood for sharing her insights into 3D technology and her extensive research into knitwear.
Other references and background reading:
No comments:
Post a Comment