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A Movable, 4D Printed Dress Made with Kinematics

Nervous System is never one to rest on their laurels as they’re always ahead of the curve when it comes to digital fabrication. Their latest offering? A dress made with Kinematics, their 4D printing system. Yep, I said 4D. Kinematics allows them to make complex, foldable structures made up of interlocking elements, which makes a wearable dress possible.

Take a look:

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The dress is composed of thousands of interlocking components that were 3D printed as one, single folded piece at the NYC Shapeways factory. That means zero assembly.

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The beauty of this dress, besides the intricate pattern, is that it’s custom fit and can actually be worn. Because of the hinge joints between each module, the dress is fluid and moves with the body. The dress is the first printed dress with no attachments and no assembly required. It was ready to wear right out of the printer!

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The dress, along with the software, has been acquired by the Museum of Modern Art to add to their permanent collection.

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Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.