Openwear

3d printing and wood at Paris fashion week

An experimental new material was put to use in the creation of a flexible, soft dress of stunning complexity, produce with Laser Sintering technique. Austrian architect Julia Koerner explains, “My collaboration with Materialise for the 3D printed dress for Iris van Herpen’s Haute Couture Show ‘Voltage’ 2013 reveals a highly complex, parametrically generated, geometrical structure. The architectural structure aims to superimpose multiple layers of thin woven lines which animate the body in an organic way. Exploiting computational boundaries in combination with emergent technology selective laser sintering, of a new flexible material, lead to enticing and enigmatic effects within fashion design. New possibilities arise such as eliminating seams and cuts where they are usually placed in couture.” Learn more here Using a different technique and approach, Sruli Recht items are made of layers of walnut wood divided into triangles and then mounted on a textile base forming the geometric shapes of the garments. Take a look at the video below (and spot

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Open source branding lecture at Parsons

Last month I was in New York invited by Otto von Busch at The School of Design Strategies for a lecture and a workshop about the concept of open source  in fashion and how I experienced it through the projects I co-funded starting from 2005 ( Serpica Naro and Openwear). The SDS is “an experimental educational environment configured to advance innovative approaches to design and business education in the evolving context of cities, services, and ecosystems”. Below you can find the slides of the lecture and here some pictures of the workshop! It was a great experience working together with Otto but also Pascale Gatzen and finally meeting with Giana, from Hacking Couture.

From the idea to the prototype with the help of open design

At the end of July I spent a week at Supsi with Massimo Banzi and around 20 participants at the Physical & Wearable computing with Arduino summer school. The focus of the course was on the design and prototyping of digitally fabricated interactive objects. It was the first time I was working with Massimo and some weeks before I shared with him the approach I had in mind. Usually, wearable technology workshops start from ready-made garments or accessories. Old gloves and t-shirts, cheap belts or jackets are “decorated” with technology. I wanted to experiment a different point of view. I would have brought some rough prototypes of wearable accessories made of felt and produced with a lasercut. I prepared the files during the previous months with the help of professional tailor Nadia – who knows much about measures and fit, and Vectorealism, my partners at Wefab – who gave me direct access to the lasercut to prepare the first drafts.

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The future of knitting

(Segue in italiano) When a couple of years ago I got interested in the development of the first open-source loom and interviewed Margarita Benitez of Osloom I suddenly realized the potentiality of weaving, knitting and crocheting in terms of modularity and flexibility. Now i’d like to present you two other projects that got my attention. They are not open-source, they are proprietary projects, but they show us how companies are researching and investing in new patented technologies that are revolutionizing the field. Start with watching these videos. the first is a glance on the Nike’s Flyknit technology and the second is a short interview with the designers who developed it. They show us the first example of the knitting of one piece of trainer uppers using flat and circular knitting technologies. The shoe weights only 160 grams and has multiple yarns of varying properties! Nike Flyknit technology film from Darrin Crescenzi on Vimeo. If you want to know more technical

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