Multi-material color 3D printer puts 'Garden of Eden' in fashion
South African designer and engineer, Michaella Janse van Vuuren, has unveild a unique collection of color, multi-material 3D printed fashion pieces created
Van Vuuren's collection features a "Stained Glass" corset, "Classic Serpent" shoes and belt, along with a range of "Fish-in-Coral" bracelets - most pieces are 3D printed in a single print run, in a range of color and material combinations.
Inspired by the Garden of Eden story, van Vuuren's collection demonstrates a world where Eve is the master of the serpent, preventing the fall of paradise and any punishment upon her descendants - a role reversal to the original parable. "In this depiction, the woman is free, powerful, and in full control. She can be anyone she wants to be, the author of her own destiny," explains van Vuuren.
Stained Glass Corset
The Stained Glass corset depicts the flowers, berries and leaves of the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden. In a bid to mirror the stained glass effect of a church window, van Vuuren together with Stratasys' Materials Engineer, Tal Ely, used a custom pallet consisting of three base materials: clear transparent and rubber-like materials, along with VeroMagenta to create the vivid pink and purple coloring.
The Stained Glass corset depicts the flowers, berries and leaves of the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden. In a bid to mirror the stained glass effect of a church window, van Vuuren together with Stratasys' Materials Engineer, Tal Ely, used a custom pallet consisting of three base materials: clear transparent and rubber-like materials, along with VeroMagenta to create the vivid pink and purple coloring.
The 3D printing technology empowers the designer to create very complex structures made of different materials and colors never achievable before in one process.
Classic Serpent Shoes
Also featured in the collection are multiple pairs of 3D printed shoes, which incorporate an eye-catching serpent design that symbolizes the reversal of power and the subjugation of the serpent instead of the woman. Each shoe combines rigid parts for the support structure, rubber-like elements for flexibility, and color for stunning aesthethics. In addition, a fashionable serpent belt, designed to be the woman's coat in arms, was completely 3D printed using flexible color material.
Completing the collection are a number of 3D printed experimental bracelets. According to van Vuuren, the bracelets harness two different approaches to bending rigid mechanical interlocking parts, as well as the adjustment of material properties to create jelly-like elements.
"Depicting the water features in the Garden of Eden, the Fish in Lilies bracelet explores rigid mechanical solutions to bend the bracelet around the wrist while the Fish in Coral piece experiments with different material properties to create a more rubbery part." says van Vuuren.
"The ability to combine rigid and flexible materials in one piece is something that is so rare, and introducing color into the process inspires us creatives to think in a whole new way," says van Vuuren.
or a close-up look of this 3D printed fashion collection, check out the following video interview with Michaella van Vuuren.
