Nervous System have 3D printed a Kinematics Petal Dress, inspired by the movement of flower petals, for an exhibition at The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

The groundbreaking work of Nervous System may already be familiar to you, based on 3D printing projects like the Kinematics fashion range, zoetrope animations, designer jewelry, and much more besides.

Their latest creation is the Kinematics Petal Dress, a bright red garment inspired by flower petals, commissioned by The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) to for their forthcoming exhibition #techstyle.

The exhibition runs from March 6 through July 10, 2016 and explores the synergy between fashion and technology; how it is not only changing the way designers create, but also the way people interact with their clothing. You can see the making of the dress in the video below.

In addition to the dress, Nervous System have also released a new jewelry collection, Kinematic Petals, which is now available in their shop and will be for sale in the MFA’s Bookstore and Shop during the exhibition.

How Was the Kinematics Petal Dress Made?

The Kinematics Petal Dress is composed of more than 1600 unique pieces interconnected by more than 2600 hinges. Impressively, it is 3D printed in one piece in durable nylon plastic via Selective Laser Sintering (SLS).

Like Nervous System’s previous garments, this dress can be customized to the wearer’s body through a 3D scan. Once it emerges from the 3D printer, after some basic post-processing it’s already fully assembled and ready to wear.

Each interlocking component of the dress is rigid, but together they behave as a continuous textile. As well as this, each element is now individually customizable too, allowing for variances in the direction, length, and shape. Nervous System explained on their blog:

“We employ a smart folding strategy to compress Kinematics garments into a smaller form for efficient fabrication. By folding the garments prior to printing them, we can make complex structures larger than a 3D printer, that unfold into their intended shape.”

To make this dress possible, they developed new design software and simulation tools, as the overlapping petals required a new strategy for compressing the garment for efficient 3D printing.

To date, since July 2015 they have created eight versions of the Kinematics Petal dress, all different yet with a similar aesthetic. Nervous Systems intend to keep extending their Kinematics range to allow for more exciting creations.

To find out more, check out their website.