3D Printing in Fashion Design & Fabrics: 2026 & Onwards

A year ago, we published an informative guide on 3D Printing in Fashion Fabrics & Design, introducing 3D printing to the fashion industry. The guide also covered the impact this ground-breaking technology has on fashion, good, and bad. You find out exactly what 3D printing entails and how fashionable sports brands such as Adidas, Nike and Puma have embraced it. We also explained how this technology has embraced sustainability to help brands eliminate waste and harmful chemicals in their manufacturing processes.

This time, we delve deeper to provide an update on what’s happening in fashion and 3D printing. Thanks to AI and innovation, the new 3D systems can save businesses time and money and ensure waste does not end up in landfill. 

What Does the Future Hold?

How interesting that some of the most exciting innovations in fashion currently aren’t being created in designers’ workshops. These days, 3D printing has taken over the fashion industry, changing how we design and manufacture garments and accessories. It’s fascinating how quickly we’ve adapted to these new technologies and systems, and embraced them; it’s also mind-blowing how we’ve used them to find startling ways to be more sustainable and cost-aware.

As responsible fashion production using sustainable fabric takes centre stage, let’s look at new ways to create fashion garments using 3D printing in the best way possible.

Embracing Waste-Free, Faster Processes

Creating the sampling has been a laborious and time-consuming effort, involving everything from designing a pattern to cutting the fabric and sewing it. There’s also fitting it, which often involves copious adjustments. It’s an expensive process because it takes so much time and effort, and also generates a huge amount of fabric waste. We’re aware of the amount of fabric the global fashion industry wastes; apparently, it’s constantly increasing. It’s currently sitting at approximately 92 million tons of material every year, and it’s estimated that, by 2030, this amount could be over 134 million tons.

Three-D printing is changing the game, offering designers the opportunity to create digitally rather than by hand. It considers all sorts of variables, such as the drape of the fabric, its texture and how it will move when the garment is made. It’s estimated that making a 3D sample rather than a handmade one could save manufacturers between 70% and 90% in time and money.

Consider how much small fashion businesses can save using this technology. They would have the opportunity to compete with big-name brands without spending a fortune.

Real Examples & Results in 3D Printing

Let’s take a look at how global fashion brands are using 3D printing…

Spanish shoe design brand Camper recently started using 3D printers in their manufacturing process and has reported that this takes months off their development time and reduces their manufacturing costs tremendously. According to a blog on BCN3D, the 3D printer brand that Camper uses, Camper “works with a three-month deadline to create each new collection. With this time constraint, they needed a fast, cost-efficient solution that would allow them to test and iterate multiple times, all while maintaining the highest quality standards…

“Before the company started working with in-house 3D printing, they were outsourcing the production of physical models. This process was slow and expensive, taking up to two weeks to receive a prototype…”

3D printing resulted in “a total revolution and streamlining of Camper’s process: now designers can discuss which new shapes and details they are considering with the engineers in the technical department, who then convert these ideas into printable models within 24 hours”.

Luxury brand Louis Vuitton uses 3D printing to create prototype handbags, cutting down the long three-week period it used to take, to a matter of days. Then there’s Adidas, which has used 3D printing for a long time, previously printing components such as midsoles from recycled plastic retrieved from the ocean. The brand now uses the technology to manufacture their Futurecraft 4D trainers.

3D Printing: Current Market Trends

It seems like adopting 3D printing into fashion manufacture may become mainstream, but there remains a cautious few who are unsure about how the public will react. It’s all very well using a 3D printer to print a sample, but the world will take a while to get used to computers printing their clothing, without any human assistance. There are also concerns regarding 3D-printed fabrics, their sustainability and cost-effectiveness.

Talking about cost-effective clothing, does this mean that manufacturers will print only on demand? And if this happens, will customers be prepared to wait for their clothing to be printed? More importantly, first-off, new fabrics need to be designed that are sustainable, affordable and work with 3D printing.

Basically, 3D printing will only become the norm if 3D-printed clothing becomes popular. For this to happen, this technology needs to become freely available and affordable.

What's Currently Printing in 3D?

Let’s take a look at what works when it’s 3D-printed. 

·      Concept Models & Prototypes

           Product samples are workable and testable. Designers print and adjust accordingly.

·      Accessories & Components

Decoration, adornment, and components required to make fashion items are the details that finish off an item. You can 3D-print these quickly.

·      Shoes

This is the area where manufacturers have been experimenting with 3D printing, and if Nike, Adidas and Puma sneakers are anything to go by, they aren’t stopping anytime soon.

 Couture & Once-Off Designs

·                              Many couturiers and designers have been using 3D printing to create their masterpieces for years.

·      Transforming Art Into Everyday Wear

Manufacturers are experimenting in the UK and elsewhere, using 3D printing to create wearable fashion pieces. As this becomes more mainstream, the industry may find that it’s incredibly sustainable, too.

Is the 3D Printing Fabric Wearable?

This is a major question, and the answer isn’t simple. Currently, most 3D-printed fabric is made from some form of plastic, but manufacturers are finding more flexible, hard-wearing materials that are more comfortable to wear. In time, most 3D-printed fabrics will become more wearable, comparable to the natural fibres we love so much, like organic cotton. Once scientists have designed fabrics for 3D printing that tick all the boxes and are sustainable, too, this printing system will become easier for manufacturers to use. It’s still a long way to go before natural fibres are compatible with this technology, which is why 3D printing remains something to do alongside regular manufacture, rather than replace it. 

Fashion manufacturers should use this technology as well as manufacturing traditionally, not as a replacement.

What’s Next in 3D Printing Technology for Fashion Clothing & Design?

While those of us in the fashion and fabric printing industries aren’t ready to embrace 3D printing as the answer to all our manufacturing problems, we can certainly use it to our advantage. Utilising this technology wisely can save us time and money, and decrease the amount of waste we’re producing. We can also cut down on over-production and save time doing laborious tasks.

Right now, we aren’t ready to make this technology the be-all and end-all of our production processes. But we can carefully incorporate it into part of our systems to save time and money, and wait patiently for newer processes to arrive to help us in the future.

And what does the future hold? AI will continue to innovate and find ways for our industry to become more sustainable, less expensive and less time-consuming. It’s expected that we will use AI in more surprising ways, perhaps by scanning customers’ bodies and then personalising the clothing using this information to create perfectly-fitting outfits that fit into their lifestyles, the way they look and how they move.

Already, global online stores are using virtual and augmented reality so that customers can try on clothing and see what they look like. It’s just a matter of time before this becomes a standard procedure. Ideas we used to consider futuristic are now realistic, and with that comes even more opportunities to surprise and excite customers. It’s really is just a matter of time!

Embrace the Future with Us

At maake, we believe in combining creativity and responsibility so that our customers get the best of both worlds. Three-D printing is the way forward, and may be overtaken one day by other even more surprising technology. Whatever happens, our love for fashion and fabrics will continue to shine, and the more we can eliminate waste and inefficiency in everything we do, the better!