As I’ve written about previously, footwear is taking advantage of 3D printing in a big way. Adidas introduced their prototype FUTURECRAFT 4D sneakers early last year, featuring 3D printed midsoles made with Carbon’s CLIP high-speed resin printing technology. The one-piece midsoles are made from 20,000 struts that can be individually tuned, providing more control on energy return and different levels of support to the heel, transition, and forefoot zones.

On January 18^th, Adidas’s FUTURECRAFT 4D sneakers launched in the New York City area through retailers KITH, Packer, and SNS. At $300 per pair, they’re likely more appealing to sneakerheads than to the casual shopper. If you’re looking for something even more exclusive, check out the FUTURECRAFT 4D Arsham Future. According to KicksOnFire, Adidas collaborated with NYC-based artist Daniel Arsham to create the limited-edition sneaker. Available next September, they’ll set you back $450. The FUTURECRAFT line represents Adidas’ first step toward the goal of a 3D printer in every store, custom-printing shoe elements for customers on demand, so prices are likely to come down in years to come.

The first fully functional 3D printed dress was created by Finish architect Janne Kyttanen in 2000. But his 3D printed shoes and accessories are real standouts. His sculptural wedge heels are 3D printed and then attached to leather uppers. The Sedona Wedges feature a sleek modern design, while the Splinter Wedges have a spiky profile. And his Bullet Wedges look fractured, as if blown out by a bullet. Kyttanen is also known for his 3D printed handbags. The chainmail-like Le 69 bag is fashioned after the 1969 classic Paco Rabanne design. And his Punchbag with its knuckleduster handle is in MoMA’s permanent collection. See it being printed in the video below:

Sylvia Heisel is a New York fashion designer who’s redefining fashion forward design. Heisel’s bespoke 3D printed coat is custom fitted to the wearer, with the help of 3D body scanning, and is printed in recyclable materials. This reduces waste and ensures proper fit. Heisel also offers a custom fit 3D printed dress.

Heisel’s bespoke 3D printed coat (image courtesy the designer)

3D “printed” fashion isn’t limited to plastics, metals and resins. Three dimensional knitting creates garments faster and more efficiently than traditional means. American Trench uses a Shima Seiki Whole Garment weaving machines to create their fisherman’s style waffle-knit sweater in one piece. And because it’s made in a single piece there are no seams to restrict movement. Vessi uses 3D knitting to make what they claim is the world’s first waterproof knit shoes. The Flash Knit upper repels water while allowing moisture to escape.

3D Printed Fashion Design: Where to Start

You can design your own custom-fit apparel with the help of 3D scanning. As our own Angela Linneman reports, Occipital’s Structure Scanner and Skanect software can provide high quality scans, which can be used for 3D printed fashion. 3DPrint.com’s 3D Scanning Guide 2017 (by yours truly) details more 3D scanning options, including DIY solutions.

And it’s always a good idea to take physical measurements of your subject, as some 3D scanning solutions may not be to scale. The 3D scan can then be uniformly scaled by inputting the correct measurement from a single dimension (i.e. if you have the height of your model). Once you have your 3D scan, you can import it into a 3D modeling app, such as Autodesk’s Fusion 360 (it’s free for non-commercial use). Design around or on the 3D scan to create a beautiful custom piece. Don’t know how to 3D model? No worries. Shapeways’ free tutorials can get you started.

3D printing is truly revolutionizing how we make garments and making them more personal. It just requires an unconventional mind to make use of the possibilities. At Shapeways, you can bring your own inspired fashions to life.

print your design

The post Wear This Print: How 3D Printing Is Disrupting Fashion Design appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

In your shoes, in your car

It’s everywhere! Mass-manufactured 3D printed products are finally getting into customer hands… or onto their feet and into their garages. That’s because adidas’ long-anticipated Futurecraft 4D shoes with 3D printed midsoles finally dropped this week. And MINI announced that in 2018, customers can personalize their rides through the new MINI Yours Customized program. Hopefully, this will show everyone what we already know: that 3D printing CAN MAKE (almost) ANYTHING.

Carbon tech, adidas hype

The Greatest Show on Earth (but not the only show in town)

CES is paradise for geeks, futurists, audiophiles, 3D designers — basically, anyone who is really into any technologies available to consumers. That’s why it’s a good place to spot the kind of 3D technology that could one day (soonish) be in your house. There were a couple of standouts at this year’s CES, which ended last Friday: Ethereal Machines’ “5D printing,” a 5-axis 3D printer with a rotating build plate, and the HP Z 3D Camera, which turns an easily-mountable camera into a scanner and facial-recognition tool. Some very cool news also came from outside the consumersphere: Another rotating 3D printer part, this time the printhead, was demonstrated by Harvard researchers to increase the strength, stiffness, and resistance of 3D printed parts. And in another leap forward for really, really big 3D printers, a new printer from CEAD is already contracted to print ships. We’ll see that one in action at CES 2030.

The HP Z 3D Camera (source)

Breathe easy and break a leg

It might not solve all our problems, but I mean, 3D printing can now print structures that could regrow lung and brain tissue, plus titanium bone replacement meshes that are often better than bone grafts. It’s not a license to live dangerously, but it might just be there for us when we inevitably do.

3D Print Your Medical Needs

Learn how you can utilize 3D printing for medical use. Contact us today to let us know how we can help.

The post The Week in 3D Printing: Kicks and Cars, New Tech Alert, and Medical Miracles appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

As the Verge reports, Adidas will make 5,000 pairs of its Futurecraft 4D sneakers available this year, with plans to sell 100,000 pairs by the end of 2018. The midsole, printed using Carbon‘s revolutionary continuous liquid interface production (CLIP) process, is more robust and flexible than an injection-molded part.

Adidas gave its first version of the Futurecraft 4D to some winning athletes at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

Nike used 3D printing to prototype track shoes for the Rio games, but they were manufactured through traditional methods. While Nike has been a little slow to release 3D printed footwear to the masses, they have a new partnership with the French 3D printing company Prodways. According to Footwear News, Prodways’ TPU outsoles, midsoles, and insoles will greatly decrease Nike’s production time, with the added benefit of creating more form-fitting, comfortable shoes.

New Balance introduced the Zante Generate, featuring a midsole designed by Nervous System and 3D printed by 3D Systems, last year. New Balance just signed on to produce more 3D printed sneakers using Form Cell, Formlabs’ recently announced small-scale manufacturing system that links up to five Form 2 3D printers with Form Wash + Form Cure machines.

According to Esquire, Reebok created 300 pairs of its Liquid Speed sneakers using its Liquid Factory system. The outsole is 3D printed and wraps around the sneaker as a flexible cage. This allows the sneaker to mold to the foot and give extra return energy to runners with every step. Last month, at the RAPID + TCT additive manufacturing expo, I saw Under Armour’s new “super hybrid” trainer, designed using generative design and 3D printing for everything from running to weightlifting. Sneaker News reports that the next version of the cross trainer, the ArchiTech Futurist, is due out this week.

Not all 3D printed footwear is for elite athletes and runners. Feetz takes a different approach, offering custom-fit shoes through their FeetzApp. Customers take photos of their feet and the app processes it into a 3D model. Recently, Feetz formed a partnership with retailer DSW, with Feetz@DSW pop-up shops in NYC and San Francisco, according to 3DPrint.com.

Wiivv prints custom insoles and recently had a successful Kickstarter for recyclable 3D printed sandals with interchangeable and custom toe-thong placement. As with Feetz, users take photos of their feet with an app.

Brunel University London student Faisal Tayan is creating customizable shoes for refugees, 3DPrint.com recently reported. Rather than using a 3D printer to create bespoke shoes, Tayan used a 3D printed mechanism that lets his Shoe4All expand from size 6 to 11. For each pair he sells, Tayan plans to donate one pair of shoes to a person in need.

So 3D printed footwear looks and sounds sexy, but is it really the wave of the future — or is it just hype? Shapeways’ Lauren Slowik recently shared her opinion. I’m more optimistic than Lauren, and tend to think that 3D printing has a wide range of applications and will appeal to consumers’ desires for better fit, comfort, and customization.

What do you think? Are you wearing 3D printed shoes yet? Will your next pair of kicks be 3D printed, or is it a novelty that will go the way of the way of the shoe phone?

The post One Step Beyond: Sneaker Brands, Others Race Ahead With New 3D Printed Shoes appeared first on Shapeways Blog.