It feels like 3D printing, rapid prototyping, and desktop replicators have been around forever now, but somehow most of the things you typically see being manufactured are odd-looking chairs and plastic tools that don’t work as well as you’d like them to. That’s why we look to designers like Naim Jousefi to show us what the potential of these tools could really mean. In terms of fashion, they’re making bespoke items like the ring above that we’d actually want to wear out in public.
We also love the look of Marloes ten Bhömer‘s futuristic, minimalist, chopped-up shoes. Since graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2003, she’s been wowing us with architecturally-structured heels, origami pumps, and machine-made creations like 2009’s Rotationalmouldedshoe. Recently she’s begun harnessing the power of replicators like the Objet Eden 500V™ 3D Printer for her Rapidprototypedshoe. Built in a single shot, but designed to be taken apart to replace individual parts, they’re built up from microscopic layers of two different materials that allow the shoes to be both hard and flexible at the same time. We can’t wait until we can buy them.The trouble with a lot of 3D printing techniques is that many products are made from a beige-tan plastic resin that’s not as attractive as we’d like it to be. Brazilian shoe designer Andreia Chaves has neatly solved this problem by prototyping a pair of endoskeleton wedges and covering them with geometric mirrors. All are handmade in Italy by a fusion of leather-making techniques and advanced 3D printing.See more of our picks for rapid prototyping done right, like creations from Iris van Herpen and Freedom of Creation, in the full article on VICE Style.
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