Japanese company STARted is working with fashion designer Masaharu Ono on AMIMONO, a 3D printed knitted vest for everyday wear.

We’ve seen plenty of evidence of 3D printing on the runways of high fashion, ranging from ThreeASFOUR to Iris van Herpen.

Isn’t it time we saw the technology used for everyday clothing, whether it’s something for the office or popping out for a pint of milk?

To address the issue, Japanese tech company STARted is working with fashion designer Masaharu Ono, founder of Free-D and a specialist in 3D printed designs and wearables.

Together, the team has come up with a 3D printed knitted vest which looks comfortable and offers the flexibility of traditional fabrics.

The project is named AMIMONO — meaning knitting in Japanese — and is 3D printed from a thermoplastic polyurethane material. Check out the project video from Free-D below:

The Making of the AMIMONO Garment

To create AMIMONO, an algorithm was used to create a woven pattern without seams. As a matter of fact, STARted and Ono’s design closely mimics the appearance of knitted wool.

The team then brought on iMaterialise to help get the file ready for printing — the original design was a hefty 2GB — and then printed the vest using TPU filament. The benefits of TPU are that the vest is flexible, comfortable, and can be easily folded.

Ono explained to iMaterialise:

“Until now, 3D printed clothing has been limited to shows or display purposes. However, with this method it is possible to create clothing that can actually be used for daily wear. By utilizing a universally known method such as knitting through the unexpected medium of 3D printing, we were able to create a final product that could be used as daily wear and looks no different from normal clothing.”

It may be a while yet before you can print your own summer dresses on a 3D printer. However, STARted and Ono’s concept is certainly a step in the right direction.

Ono added: “We think that this piece will serve as an example of how the still unfamiliar concept of 3D printed items can exist in our reality without issues.”

Source: iMaterialise Blog 

AMIMONO

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