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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Credits: www.forbes.com
Despite this Jetsonian vision, most industries outside of manufacturing, medicine and some DIY arts and crafts sectors have been slow to adopt 3-D printing. That is beginning to change, and fashion is one industry leading the charge.
3-D technology already allows for faster visualization and prototyping of new fashion designs and has the potential to replace physical samples altogether. Used in retail, 3-D technology could deliver a competitive advantage as customers can create customized products on the spot utilizing 3-D renderings for the customer to preview their designs before purchasing. The diminishing upfront cost coupled with proven returns means we’re on the very front end of the possible change.
Even five years ago, an emerging designer likely couldn’t afford the $50,000–100,000 required to invest in a commercial-grade, high-quality 3D printer for prototyping. Now, high-end SLA desktop 3D printers can be had for under $5,000. This democratization of the technology will empower smaller designers and unleash a wave of creativity in both design and business models.
This is because 3-D technologies translate directly into time and money savings for designers. The creation of product samples is one of the most time and money intensive phases of the design process. As the fashion industry moves to a faster, more seasonally driven sales cycle, 3-D modeling and printing can cut months from traditional development timelines. Those cost savings can be huge for the large fashion brands that have a company the size of Coach which has hundreds of new SKUs delivered to stores each season.
Lizz (Hill) Wiker leads a small team responsible for prototyping hardware and jewelry designs for the brands under the Tapestry, Inc. umbrella, including Coach, Stuart Weitzman, and Kate Spade. She recently told me that 3-D printing was first used in the jewelry industry and even the athletic shoe industry before larger fashion design houses became interested. Coach initially dabbled in 3-D printing for their own hardware design efforts but has since broadened to jewelry and other accessories categories when they realized the potential. While she says it took a while for the workflow to be formally adopted by the company, 3-D printing is now a core part of how Coach designs and develops products.
Ironically, Wiker was not eyeing a career in technology as a child. Growing up, she says she was curious about how things were made and loved working with her hands to create. She taught herself how to sew, learned darkroom photo developing, and was even trained as a floral designer. Wiker pursued these interests to the Fashion Institute of Technology (FITT) where she received two degrees: Textile Development & Marketing and Accessories Design.
After graduation, Wiker landed a job as a product developer and then her dream job as a Hardware Materials Developer at Coach. After four years in this role, she learned Rhino 3D under the mentorship of a coworker with 15 years of CAD experience, ultimately transitioning into a full-time role as a 3-D modeler and technical designer.
In her job now, Wiker oversees a small team of 3-D modelers responsible for the technical design and prototyping of hardware components and jewelry. At the highest level, their job is to turn loose ideas into refined product designs. To accomplish this, they work closely with the design teams for the various brands to help conceptualize and test their new design ideas through 3D modeling, photo-realistic rendering and in-house SLA 3D printing. She loves the detail work that goes into turning 2-D renderings into working 3-D models that ultimately become pieces worn by people on the streets of her home city of New York.
Wiker says one of the biggest misconceptions about her job is that it exists in a vacuum. She says that being a really good 3D modeler requires an understanding of fabrication, manufacturing and engineering so that you can turn a hand sketch or 2-D illustration into a 3-D model. In fact, one of her team’s biggest contributions during this engineering process is to find and resolve conflicts between the intended design aesthetic and the functional requirements of the end product. They can even anticipate the challenges that factories will have when sampling the part and can work closely with design partners to create a finalized 3D model that is manufacturable and still achieves the original design intent.
Wiker sees 3-D fashion technology as a natural fit for other women. She says that women are already a big part of the fashion industry, but what most people don’t know is that product development roles far outnumber design roles for newer entrants. So 3-D technology – both modeling and printing – provides a good way for many women to enter the field, or for those women already in it to expand their skillsets.
Overall, Wiker expects 3-D technology to remake the world outside of fashion as well. The potential for reinvention and innovation is enormous, and businesses will be incentivized by the cost and reputation advantages. All of this will open up even more doors for creative, technology-savvy women.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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