Case Studies

3D printing provides material and time savings to luxury fashion brand

Background

A team from the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland’s (NMIS) Digital Factory collaborated with luxury eco-fashion brand ROCIO, worn by celebrities including Kate Upton and Irina Shayk, to create a new version of its signature handbag design using 3D printing.

The brand was eager to explore new, sustainable ways of manufacturing and combine the technological capabilities at NMIS with its own craftsmanship to develop the inner structure of the bag that could be used as the basis for luxury fabric coverings.

Customer challenge

Founded in Scotland, ROCIO is renowned for its decorative handbags, traditionally individually sculpted from harvested acacia wood over a meticulous 19 stage process. However, this process is lengthy and leaves little opportunity to explore alternative design ideas.

The brand was also eager to uncover additive manufacturing capabilities, which can provide materials and energy savings, making them more sustainable than traditional manufacturing techniques

How did NMIS help?

As part of the project, funded by the Advancing Manufacturing Challenge Fund's Additive Manufacturing Business and Technology Support (AM-BATS) project, the team from NMIS initially scanned ROCIO's signature Coco handbag design before producing a 3D printed prototype of the inner structure of the bag using a Stratasys F900 printer. The goal was to ensure the design retained its signature characteristics in aesthetic and silhouette.

Atelier, a fashion business school in Spain, used this prototype to create a final fully structured leather handbag – a first for ROCIO.