3D Printing in Fashion Fabrics & Design for Textiles

The fashion industry uses AI to inspire us to design innovative fashion clothes, patterns and fabric, so it shouldn’t be surprising that we’re finally embracing 3D Printing, too. Why not? Sneaker brands Nike and Puma have been doing this for a while, creating high-tech design structures that look like they were manufactured in outer space (more about this below), so why shouldn’t we create fashion garments with the same approach?

Here, we discover the printing machines being used to produce fashion-forward designs that are awe-inspiring and way out there, the fashion designers and manufacturing companies in the industry embracing this technology and being inspired to go that extra mile, and the impact this is having on the future of the fashion industry.

What is 3D Printing on Material?

On its website, technology company Polygiene describes this as “printing technology that allows for incredibly intricate design, enabling brands to add  elaborate decorative embellishments and performance-enhancing features.” 

It discusses 3D Fashion Technology, called 3DFashion™, “a 3D printing technology revolutionising the fashion industry” that “allows direct-to-textile 3D printing in full colour and clear print, enabling the creation of spectacular design structures and fantastic optical illusionary effects on garments, footwear and luxury accessories”.

A 3D printing company based in the US and Israel, believes it represents the future of the fashion industry. “We predict that latest innovations in 3D printing will change the way we dress. No longer bound by traditional limitations on what our clothes look like or how they fit, these advancements have given rise to a new generation of fashion designers who care about being sustainable, and consumers eager for something customisable to keep things fresh and renewable.”

Innovation in Fashion Design Fabric

One of the first fashion additive manufacturing sectors to embrace 3D printing were in the footwear category. This is not surprising, as sneakers have become a fashion forward section of designer wear in the fashion industry, where designers aren’t afraid to take chances and produce high-tech items that not only look as if we could wear them in space but also boast technologically inspired attributes that make them improve our exercise regime and posture while also dispelling odour and embracing skin sensitivities.

Artificial Intelligence is used, too, to transform these designs into new-age versions of sports footwear, which they create using 3D printing technology. The process features specialised software to design and then 3D printing of parts of the shoes. 3D printing technology allows designers to experiment with the designs of the sneakers, the textures of the fabric used, and how these shoes function to make exercising and everyday life as comfortable as possible.

The 3D Printing Sneaker Revolution

The foremost sneaker brands in the sportswear fashion industry include Nike, Adidas, New Balance and designer activewear brand, Puma. Early this year the latter collaborated with a French designer, Louis-Gabriel Nouchi. With new design projects of the brand’s stellar Mostro sneaker, Puma used a 3D printing service for their latest offering, a slip-on sneaker with no laces and Puma’s “anatomical sole and distinctive spike design”. It is available in black and bone white. 

Nike’s iconic Flyknit line of sneakers was worn in the 2016 Olympics and since then, this sneakers range created with 3D printing has been perfected. Currently, this sneaker weighs 11g less than it used to, is more breathable and doesn’t retain water at all. Another frontrunner in the sneaker industry is Adidas, whose futuristic 4D  Futurecraft Running Shoes provide a ‘supportive custom fit’, 4D midsole with “precisely coded performance zones” to conquer “unpredictable” terrain like “city streets” and a rubber outsole with “extraordinary traction in wet and dry conditions”. And that’s just a taste of 3D printing on textile for the activewear industry!

Fabulous Future Fashion With 3D Printing Technology

The fashion industry is changing so fast to keep up with technology and to use its various tools to best advantage of the fashion industry. Everything we do in the fashion industry, from designing to additive manufacturing, marketing and selling, is different now. The fabrics we use to create fashion garments and accessories are designed with AI and then printed using 3D printing technology and many of the components we use to create fashion items are also made by 3D printing these items. This method is known as additive manufacturing, which involves building 3D objects by adding components layer by layer. As 3D printing becomes essential to design and produce fashion garments, we must look to the future to see what will come next.

LCI Barcelona School of Design and Visual Arts teaches how to combine technology and creativity to create unique masterpieces. According to the School’s Head of Fashion, Estel Vilaseca, “3D fashion will allow 3D printing clothes at home in the future. Although there is still a long way to go, it is a scenario that will be real…” The study of a 3D printing service and 3D fashion modelling in the School’s Degree in Fashion Design and the Master in Design of Footwear, Bags and Leather Goods Collection, also includes studying digital manufacturing using a 3D printing service, 3D modelling and more.

Textile Sustainability Takes Centre Stage in Fashion

Aside from global schools training in updated technology, there is another aspect of the fashion and fabric design and manufacturing industry taking centre stage. Sustainability and waste are one of the most important aspects of using new technology in the fashion industry, and 3D printing technology is being used to boost a greener fashion environment. Research is underway to find new ways of reducing fabric waste, using more sustainable fibers, filament and textiles and recycling fashion clothes. 3D printing technology using recyclable, biodegradable fabric will one day be the norm, instead of the exception, creating more circularity in the fashion industry.

Read our blog on Creating Sustainable Fabric from Waste for valuable data on how the UK addresses being sustainable in textile fabric.

Personalising Fashion Clothing & Design with 3D Printing

We must pay for the privilege, but we can already use a 3D printing service to personalise garments. Currently, manufacturers use additive manufacturing for designing and 3D printing fashion clothes using technology to personalise them to a customer’s specifications, including body measurements and preferences. This could also decrease the amount of excess fashion clothing produced, a huge problem in the fast fashion industry. Using AI in fashion design and manufacturing, we can forecast fashion trends and the capacity required to meet a trend, which may eliminate the need for mass production.

For more inspiration, read our thoughts on The Global Fashion Industry Glut and how to combat it.

Creativity & Technology Using 3D Printing

Couture fashion has also embraced the 3D printer, as shown in French fashon designer Balenciaga’s 2023/2024 Fall/Winter Haute Couture fashion show. The design house created a dress that resembled armour, created using an innovative 3D printing technology with “galvanised resin and polished in chrome”. Aside from being a major technological feat, the dress showed the world how this design house Balenciaga had combined technology and luxury haute couture design.

Read the fascinating guide we compiled on Smart Clothing & Fabric for Sports, Health & Fashion Garments.

3D Printing Feedback From the London College of Fashion

3D printing organisation Laser Lines wrote an article on inspiring the next generation of fashion designers using the 3D printer service and processes. While researching data for the blog, they visited the London College of Fashion to hear what Senior Lecturer Dr Minigjing Lin thought about 3D printing technology being used in the fashion industry and fabric industries.

In the blog she said: “For the past decade, I have been dedicated to educating fashion and textiles professionals and young people about 3D printing technology and 3D modelling techniques. We are already seeing innovative design results as these fashion designers and textiles designers start to embrace 3D printing into their fashion and textile projects.”

The blog also discusses some “exciting examples of how 3D printing has been used in fashion”. These include “new art forms and fabric experimentation with 3D printing on net and suede leather textiles.”

The company mentions that it collaborates with London and UK-based fashion designers and “the list looks set to grow further as 3D printing becomes a mainstay in fashion design”. It also mentions textile 3D printing developments in “retail, interior design and with luxury car brands”, with an example of the 2024 Milan Design Week, where Maserati displayed the GranTurismo Folgore, whose car seats were printed on a printer using Econyl fabric using 3D printing technology.