For the annual Met Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, fashion designer Zac Posen in collaboration with Protolabs and GE Additive has created a collection of 3D printed gowns and accessories.
Posen’s 3D printed pieces were worn by supermodel Jourdan Dunn, actresses Nina Dobrev, Katie Holmes, Julia Garner and Bollywood star Deepika Padukone.
Jourdan Dunn’s gown is made up of 21 unique 3D printed rose petals that are made from Xtreme White 2000 plastic coated in a colour-shifting paint with a gloss clear coat.
To create the petals, a method of 3D printing called stereolithography (SLA) was utilized. A petal takes roughly 100 hours to print and is valued at $3,000 each.
The completed petals were then bolted onto a 3D printed titanium frame.
“We never intended for these parts to be easy, and we wanted to push the limit a bit,” said Protolabs applications engineer Eric Utley.
A translucent 3D printed dress made from Somos Watershed XC 11122 plastic was created for Nina Dobrev. 3D printed in four pieces using an SLA machine, the dress was wet sanded and sprayed with a clear coat.
For Julia Garner, a brass plated headpiece made from Nylon 12 plastic was created using HP’s Multi Jet Fusion 3D printer.
“I dreamt the collection, GE Additive helped engineer it and Protolabs printed it,” said Posen.
