Jul 8, 2024

The First 3D-Wedding Dress Revealed by Iris van Herpen

A new design trend has arrived, 3D-wedding dress printing, from Dutch designer Iris van Herpen, a pioneer of 3D-printed garments. Van Herpen has created a 3D-bridal masterpiece for Brazilian bride, Mariana Pavani. Where art couture takes another meaning.

The process started with a 3D body scan of Pavani, required several in-person fittings of the hand-pleated base dress, and then a meticulous marrying of the delicate fabric and the 3D-printed artwork, which were done at a specialised facility in Paris.

"We wanted to express Mariana her love of nature, art, and femininity while pushing the boundaries. We both feel fashion is a form of art and so she really dares to express herself to make her wedding a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The sculptural fluidity of her wedding gown is seamlessly blending traditional Couture craft with radical forward-facing techniques."

“There are no seams. You could not do this with a typical pattern,” said van Herpen, whose Amsterdam atelier logged 600 hours to create the design, preceded by much tinkering with ZBrush, a digital sculpting software."

“This was really a dream project for me because 3D-printed fashions are in museums, and on runways, but having it worn by someone on the most special day of her life, I think it’s really something else,”

“I wanted to bring femininity, but with a cutting-edge vibe, because she is someone who is not ordinary at all. She’s really not afraid to express herself,” the designer enthused about Pavani. “We both feel fashion is a form of art. And so she really dares to express herself and to embody that femininity, but also with the influences of new tech.”

Van Herpen, who melds traditional couture techniques like pleating, draping and beading with high-tech elements like silicon moulding and laser-cutting, considers both central to her brand DNA. “She can sit in it, she can basically do anything in it without it becoming less flexible over time.”