3D printed clothing

A seamless garment or article of footwear would minimize skin irritation for those of us not able to afford custom couture and an April 19, 2016 news item on ScienceDaily offers hope in an announcement of efforts by a team of UK scientists to change the textile industry’s approach to garment and footwear construction,

Loughborough University has teamed up with global textile and garment manufacturer the Yeh Group, to embark on landmark work in 3D textile printing that could revolutionise how clothes and footwear are made.

Personalised 3D printed fashion — manufactured within 24 hours — is the end goal of a new project led by Loughborough University that’s set to change the way we shop for clothes.

An April 18, 2016 Loughborough University press release, which originated the news item, describes the project (Note: Links have been removed),

Dr Guy Bingham, Senior Lecturer in Product and Industrial Design, has teamed up with global textile and garment manufacturer the Yeh Group, to embark on landmark work in 3D textile printing that could revolutionise how clothes and footwear are made.

The 18-month project[1], known as 3D Fashion, will see Dr Bingham – a world leader in his field – produce 3D wearable, full size, Additive Manufacturing (AM) textile garments and footwear – with design input from a major fashion house.

Advancements in AM textiles have made it possible to produce 3D printed garments directly from raw material, such as polymer, in a single manufacturing operation. This technology not only has the potential to reduce waste, labour costs and CO2e, but can modernise clothing production by encouraging localised manufacturing and production.

Currently, garment manufacture generates 1.8 million tonnes of waste material – equivalent to 70kg or 100 pairs of jeans per UK household, with 6.3 billion m³ of water used in the process – equivalent to 200,000 litres per year per household or 1,000 filled bathtubs[2].

Dr Bingham said: “With 3D printing there is no limit to what you can build and it is this design freedom which makes the technology so exciting by bringing to life what was previously considered to be impossible.

“This landmark technology allows us as designers to innovate faster and create personalised, ready-to-wear fashion in a digital world with no geometrical constraints and almost zero waste material. We envisage that with further development of the technology, we could 3D print a garment within 24 hours.

David Yeh, Managing Director, Tong Siang (Yeh Group), said: “3D Fashion supports the Yeh Group vision of direct polymer to garment manufacture. The Yeh Group is always striving to cut out unnecessary waste and resource use, and support the industries goals of faster to market, creating a manufacturing technology that brands and retailers can install closer to their customers. This is all with no compromise to performance.”

Loughborough University has produced a video about this project,

You can find out more about the Yeh Group on their website or on their Facebook page. I believe the company is headquartered in Thailand but I can’t tell if Tong Siang (the Yeh Group? on LinkedIn) is the corporate parent, the subsidiary, or an alternate company name.

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