Entity Dress

The Entity dress was created for my Fashion Design thesis show at the Fashion Institute of Technology. The theme of the show, Mad Max meets Marie Antoinette, pulled elements from both punk fashion and french elegance. For this design I combined Victorian pannier hip details with a structured 3D Printed collar inspired by the character Aunty Entity.

Sketch to garment

The fabrics sourced for this garment were an iridescent green silk lame, black moire, and black feathers. My initial sketch included more feathers and a simpler hip detail that were modified later. The final garment was enhanced with sunburst pleating and a hand-folded origami trim.

Muslin Draping

The initial draping stage was done in unison with the process of 3D modeling the collar. I photographed the muslin and superimposed the digital model on top to create the ideal shape I wanted. This process was done several times to make sure both the garment and the collar complimented each other.

3D ModelLing

After shaping the silhouette of the collar with the muslin, I fleshed out the design in Autodesk Maya. The final 3D model has intersecting joints at the center back seam to attach to the dress and magnetically detachable shoulder pieces. I prepped the model for 3D printing in Netfabb, evaluating the design for any structurally weak points or inverted normals.

3D printing

The 3D model was split into 12 pieces to be printed individually over the course of 4 days. I printed these at the PrintFX Lab at FIT with a FDM 3D Printer using ABS filament. Post processing of the prints included cleaning, sanding, and assembly before finishing with a coat of hi-gloss black paint.

FInal Design

The final design of the Entity Dress conveys both a feminine shape and armor-like structure. The collar creates a silhouette that is commanding and regal while the fabrics and cut give a feel of luxury and shine. The Entity Dress has been shown on the runway in New York, San Francisco, Dusseldorf, and Shanghai.