Fashion pioneer Julia Daviy has announced the debut of the world’s first digitally customizable 3D-printed skirt, available online. In the process, she has staked out the terms of a new era in clothing design and manufacture, one that promotes economic justice and environmental responsibility.
Customers have complete control over their skirts’ pattern, style, color, waistline and lining. Daviy and her team use this information to adjust a digital model of the skirt, which is then manufactured on a large-scale 3D printer using 100% recyclable filaments and a sustainable, zero-waste process invented and patented by Daviy herself. Delivery typically takes 10 days.
Daviy didn’t set out to upturn an entire industry. Instead, her experience as an executive in the clean technology sector encouraged her to re-center the fashion industry along more just and fair lines.
While working for a renewable-energy company, she became increasingly concerned with the environmentally and economically irresponsible means by which most garments are made. Her first line of activewear was made entirely of organic fabrics, but Daviy sought a more complete alternative to fashion’s status quo. Intrigued by the promise of 3D printing, she studied the technology at the University of Illinois before producing her first item of flexible and wearable 3D printed clothing in 2017.
Over the next few years, Daviy experimented with different printing techniques, worked with manufacturers on the specifications for different filaments, and expanded her own design vocabulary. Her years of sustained, intense effort culminated in a sensational turn at New York Fashion Week 2018.
“I started to experiment with 3D printing because I believe that in an age of radical change and global challenges, people need absolutely new clothing,” said Daviy. “The first stage is to simplify digital customization and 3D printing of flexible and wearable clothing. We’ve accomplished that, and I think that consumers will respond. Once we’ve brought this technology into the mainstream, we plan to use 3D printing to make smart clothing that integrates technology even further into the design and function of our collection.”
