3 minute read
Fashion Is the Smallest Scale of Architecture” Julia
Her designs went further than the runways of Paris Fashion Week: Julia Koerner’s 3D printed dresses are frequent guests in international museums, and her headdress and shoulder piece helped costume designer Ruth Carter win an Oscar for “Black Panther”. Koerner was not trained as a fashion designer, however; she’s an Austrian architect whose obsession with 3D printing paved the way into the heart of her first love, fashion. Interview: Petrina Engelke. Photos: Pia Clodi
Mrs. Koerner, how can architecture enhance
fashion?
When I started to collaborate with fashion designers like Iris van Herpen, I brought a skillset which other people in the fashion industry didn’t and don’t have. For me, fashion is the smallest scale of architecture, because by the way we dress, we create an immediate space around our body. I was able to add my design skills in this three-dimensional space to extend other designers’ ideas. I mostly engage in the very progressive haute couture field, where brands are innovating and testing new materials, new stitching methods, and new techniques to create textiles, implementing new technologies as well.
You are using parametric design, a process from architecture that has the potential to revolutionize fashion production. Can you explain it a little bit?
In parametric design, you use a software which allows you to either write or visually script a code in which you can very easily change parameters. If you apply this to your 3D design and change the parameters, the form will automatically adapt to different sizes, proportions, colors, and so forth, you essentially have control over variation. For example, you can take the measurements of a body scan and then adapt your design to fit perfectly. Or you can use it for mass personalization and customization.
Lately, Julia Koerner has been combining traditional materials and the technology of the future: In collaboration with 3D printing company Stratasys, she 3D printed in multicolor directly on fabric in a design inspired by the microscopic view of a butterfly wing. ©Ger Ger
Julia Koerner’s 3D printed design on the big screen: The Queen of Wakanda wearing her crown and shoulder piece in the Marvel movie “Black Panther”. ©Marvel/Disney
If time and money weren’t an issue, what kind of project would you really like to start?
I currently take part in a European Commission-funded research project called RE-FREAM in Linz, Austria, where we look into re-thinking fashion production. If I had time and unlimited funding, I would want to have a medium-sized research lab with a series of technologies like different 3D printers available, and I would experiment with those and explore how to produce in a larger quantity and make these designs more accessible for the consumer.
What would it take to make 3D printed fashion one-of-a-kinds available for everyone?
The process is fairly expensive right now and the production costs are still very high, perhaps because there is less demand. To bring the price down, you could reduce the 3D print part of the design. In my Iceland collection, I looked into combining 3D print with materials like leather, and the 3D printing company Stratasys approached me for a project where we printed on fabric for a collection they produced for the Philadelphia Museum of Art. However, you can’t keep up with the pace of fashion using this technique. On the other hand, I don’t believe in that anyways. I believe in pieces that you have for a long time, which are very unique and very elaborate in their design process, but also very durable. juliakoerner.com
