What if a new outfit was as close as your home printer? Need something to wear to that thing you’ve got coming up? Print. That’s what we can expect in the years to come as fashion becomes more acquainted with technology. Global sportswear brand Nike was recently granted a patent for technology associated with 3D printing shoes, and stated one day consumers will have the ability to purchase a shoe design file from Nike and 3D print shoes themselves. Imagine that.
Israeli designer, Danit Peleg, designed the first 3D-printed fashion collection printed entirely with home printers. The collection took more than 2,000 hours to print, with each outfit averaging 400 hours—which highlights that there’s still some time before we can expect to print our own wardrobes. So what does 3D printing mean for the future of fashion? Consider this—remember when it used to cost thousands of dollars to have a website created? Companies like Wix and Squarespace now allow creating your own website tremendously easy and free. And look how Uber has impacted the transportation industry; we have to expect the same for 3D printing and fashion.
When consumers are given the ability to fill a void themselves—whether in music, technology, transportation or fashion—a paradigm shift is eminent. Sure, printing our clothes from the comfort of our own home seems like a distant thought for the everyday person, but for future generations, this idea will be as commonplace as FaceTime… or Tupac at Coachella, which leaves big players in the fashion industry a few choices—provide design files for each collection to 3D print, or risk their designs being digitally duplicated and printed during a weekend Netflix marathon. Next week’s outfits? Printed and ready!
Originally published, here, on Bold.Global, February 12, 2016.