3D Printed Dresses by Designer Noa Raviv at Manus x Machina Exhibition

Stratasys announced that two of its 3D printed pieces, which are incorporated into dresses by designer Noa Raviv, are featured in “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology,” a new exhibition opening today at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) in New York. Curated by Andrew Bolton, the exhibition explores the dichotomy between hand-made and machine-made fashion and will highlight 3D printed designs from talented designer Noa Raviv’s “Hard Copy” collection, produced using advanced, multi-material 3D printing technology from Stratasys.

According to Bolton, the exhibition aims to break down stereotypes about hand-made and machine-made garments and shows that both can be luxurious pieces of art. “While traditionally assumptions link time-intensive delicate designs to hand-made fashion, technology has caught up and developed so much that nowadays, machine-made clothes are every bit as complex and delicate as handcrafted designs. Combining the hand-crafted and machine-made, older designs and contemporary garments, haute-couture and ready-to-wear, the ‘Manus x Machina’ exhibition enables visitors to look at fashion as art, without interference or barriers between the observer and the fashion pieces themselves.”

Showcasing the design possibilities of 3D printed fashion, the dresses feature a series of 3D printed black-and-white pieces, enabled by Stratasys multi-material 3D printing technology and hand-sewn on ruffled fabrics and grid-like patterns. These voluminous shapes were produced on an Objet500 Connex3 Color Multi-material 3D Printer by Stratasys, allowing Raviv to perfectly realize her vision of non-symmetrical distorted grid patterns and shapes. Using combinations of black and white rigid materials, the 3D futuristic shapes were sewn together with 2D laser-cut fabric, creating an optical illusion of 2D and 3D elements.

“The technological capabilities of 3D printing open new doors to areas of design previously not possible with hand-crafted fashion,” says Raviv. “Through my collection I’ve been able to explore the tension between the real and the virtual, between 2D and 3D, and this inspired me to create imperfect digital images and distorted grid patterns that are impossible to produce using conventional methods.”

Naomi Kaempfer, Creative Director, Art Fashion Design, Stratasys, concludes: “We are very excited to be part of ‘Manus x Machina’ through our collaboration with Noa Raviv. The exhibition explores the contrast between hand-crafted and machine-made design, which fits very much within our objectives of showcasing the design freedom that can be achieved using 3D printing technology. Noa’s work is a prime example of how aspiring designers turn some of the most challenging design concepts into reality.”

Acting as the Costume Institute’s Spring 2016 exhibition, the fashion pieces are being presented in the MET’s Robert Lehman Wing on the ground and first floors. Raviv’s 3D printed dresses can be seen alongside many other extraordinary fashion pieces from today through August 14.