It is now safe to declare that 3D printing is more than just a high-tech tactic used for architectural modeling. Slowly but surely, it is shaking up various industries--everything from medicine to fashion. Architect Jenny Wu sees so much potential in the technology that she created a line of 3D printed jewelry called LACE.
It all began last year, when she garnered a surprising amount of attention for sporting a few pieces of her 3D printed jewelry designs at Miami's Art Basel show. On October 1, 2014, she officially launched LACE, and pieces are currently available for pre-order online. "I’m interested in creating avant-garde jewelry that can still appeal to the mass market," Wu told Forbes.
From the flexible nylon Stria necklace ($450), to the hand-polished sterling silver Mobius Duo ring ($825), to the hand-polished nylon Gemino earrings ($70), Wu has designed a variety of one-of-a-kind accessories. But present throughout the line are Wu's distinctive, organic twisting shapes, with simple but sophisticated colors and finishes. The flexible nylon (printed with the Stratasys Fortus 400mc Production System using ABS-M30 material) Tangens necklace ($850) is LACE's leading launch product, available in black, white and translucent.
The intricate jewelry is an extension of Wu's architectural style, relying on complex, interlocking elements to create bold--in both their oversized nature and unusual shapes--statement pieces. In addition to being aesthetically unique, 3D printing pieces has other advantages, like custom-tailoring sizes based on a customer's needs. According to Wu, "The main advantage of 3D printing is achieving a high level of geometric complexity and variation. The design of the pieces taps into this by creating modules that vary incrementally in size and shape, and produce complex interlocks between the modules to simulate chain-like behavior. An assembly of this sort would take months to make in a traditional jewelry-making process rather than hours to create with a 3D printer."
But the designer notes that there are challenges associated with using this relatively new technology. "Currently, material limitation is one of the key obstacles for 3D printing in fashion. But new flexible materials are starting to become available and change that."
Wu, Columbia and Harvard educated, has always been drawn to design. She is a partner at Los Angles-based architecture firm Oyler Wu Collaborative, which specializes in experimental and avant-garde projects, such as The Cube, a 4 story pavilion for the Beijing Biennale. With 15 years of experience using 3D printing for architectural prototypes, Wu felt it was time to branch out. For LACE, Wu struck a partnership with Stratasys (Nasdaq:SSYS), a global manufacturer of 3D printers and printing materials.
When it comes to what outfits go best with Wu's pieces, the possibilities are vast, from a simple t-shirt and jeans, to an edgier leather jacket look. But it's hard not to wonder what her Tangens necklace, for example, would look like with a Francis Bitonti 3D printed dress. These looks may just be the future of fashion.
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