This previous weekend, Footwearology hosted its first-ever FootPRINT3D occasion on the superbly designed Industrial AKROLL venue, in Barcelona, Spain. As one of many official media companions, VoxelMatters was lucky to attend the sold-out occasion.

Footwearology is an academy for footwear professionals, specializing in expertise, training, and occasions. The corporate’s very first FootPRINT3D convention promised to offer deep insights and thrilling improvements on the intersection of footwear manufacturing and 3D printing. The consequence was a well-curated masterclass for footwear designers, innovators, producers, and entrepreneurs – from the expertise via to the novel enterprise fashions and purposes.

Sustainability

Federico Brugnoli, CEO of Spin 360, set the scene for the convention with some eye-opening information about sustainability and the style/footwear trade’s position. He raised legitimate factors about what number of occasions a cloth that’s known as ‘sustainable’ can truly be recycled, and the need for sturdiness – to increase the shoe’s bodily and emotional lifetime (referencing client psychology and the ‘want’ for the newest merchandise).

Federico additionally touched on the significance of the place corporations purchase their supplies from, as this choice is what determines the corporate’s precise environmental sustainability. He believes that, not too surprisingly, a lot of the issues within the footwear trade might be solved via design – the place 3D printing comes into play.

Generative design and AI

Generative design and AI are shifting the way in which we design footwear in direction of designing techniques that design footwear, based mostly on information and developments, moderately than truly designing the footwear themselves. Because of 3D printing, these designs might be delivered to life precisely, like by no means earlier than.

Fascinatingly, and moderately unsurprisingly contemplating, effectively – capitalism – some corporations are scanning 300 million social media photographs a day to check client developments and preferences. Adidas has its total archive linked to an AI system that may, consistent with its model and design id, present designs for upcoming seasons based mostly on developments. The corporate has the assets and, no matter no matter philosophical reservations one could have about this strategy (particularly artists and designers, whose roles are both threatened or empowered relying on their outlook), it’s extremely efficient and, in actual fact, inevitable.

Among the AI-driven corporations we received to talk to are Newarc.ai and TWIKIT – each of which we propose you take a look at through the VoxelMatters Listing in case you are a designer or firm working throughout the subject of design.

Zellerfeld

Contemplating my historical past inside streetwear/vogue, I used to be wanting ahead to listening to what Cornelius Schmitt mentioned about his firm, Zellerfeld, and its place throughout the footwear trade. From the branding and market recognition perspective, it’s at present essentially the most related sneaker 3D printing firm.

Began by a gaggle of sneakerheads, who additionally occurred to be German engineering college students, about seven years in the past, the corporate now hosts a workforce of greater than 200 in-house-developed FDM 3D printers (FDM is the expertise of alternative as a result of the post-processing is negligible, on this case). Cornelius refers to his firm’s enterprise mannequin as “AWS for footwear,” and actually pushes its imaginative and prescient of ‘having 3D printed footwear on each foot on the planet’.

As 3D printing continues to be pretty new on the footwear scene, there are a whole lot of kinks to iron out. One among these such kinks is the longer-than-average lead occasions. Nevertheless, the design and novelty of the ultimate product give technique to a bit wiggle room. “In case you’ve waited for 5 months – you consider the shoe matches,” mentioned Cornelius when speaking about Zellerfeld’s return coverage and the way returns are affected by the lead occasions. Though the lead occasions are usually lengthy, the corporate continues to be in a position to print a few hundred pairs of sneakers for Moncler, inside every week or two, as was the case just lately.

Zellerfeld’s enterprise mannequin can be actually revolutionary – consistent with the expertise. The mannequin is essentially targeted on collaborations – in actual fact, virtually solely. The corporate collaborates with different manufacturers and gives 3D printed sneakers as made-to-order. The primary value-add right here is that it saves on manufacturing prices, and lowers the barrier to entry for manufacturers to take their sneaker designs to market – usually accessible to the patron for a deposit of €75 (refundable up till the pairs begin being printed), which covers the manufacturing prices and achievement. To not point out the favorable 60/40 revenue cut up between the corporate and the model/artist (with the latter receiving the 60%).

Earlier this 12 months, Zellerfeld raised $15 million in a funding spherical led by Founders Fund – the identical agency whose portfolio contains SpaceX, Fb, Neuralink, Stripe, Airbnb, and plenty of many extra wildly profitable corporations.

Oeschler

Naturally, Oeschler was additionally current at FootPRINT3D, as an exhibitor and sponsor. The corporate, which Andreas Knoechel, Head of Program Administration – Additive Manufacturing Lattice, refers to as ‘the model behind the model’ sees 3D printing as merely a manufacturing expertise, and at present operates one of many largest 3D printing fleets on the planet. Andreas famous that an astounding “2,000,000 3D printed footwear, every year, is feasible.”

Inside footwear, the corporate largely focuses on the mass manufacturing of customized insoles, at a decrease scale (in comparison with conventional producers of insoles). The manufacturing price doesn’t change, whether or not the order is for 100 or 100,000 soles, as a result of efficiencies of Oeschler’s economics – enabled by the digital nature of the expertise.

In keeping with Andreas, clients are extra versatile with regards to lead occasions, due to the customization, and are at present ready months for totally 3D printed footwear. Nevertheless, insoles might be printed in a few week or so. One can, after all, print standardized and customised insoles. Some just like the novelty (and sometimes, consolation) of getting 3D printed insoles, and others are keen on the utility  – the expertise works for each.

Independently producing 3D printed footwear

The Design and Produce panel targeted on how impartial designers can 3D print their very own footwear. Philippe Holthuizen, Founding father of Fused Footwear, and his journey, stood out as case research.

As is the case with all independently led tasks, the necessity for foundational R&D is crucial. Generally this R&D, whether or not technical, private, or enterprise model-related, takes six years to get ‘proper’ – after which, as soon as comparatively streamlined, the artistic can proceed to design as a substitute of construct.

Over the course of Philippe’s seven-year journey, he has bought over 200 pairs of footwear. It doesn’t seem to be quite a bit, till you contemplate that half of those pairs have been bought this 12 months alone – after he discovered his promoting technique.

This solely goes to indicate that the demand for alternatively branded, novel 3D printed footwear is already there, and the sellers simply want to search out the patrons which are shopping for. The non-buyers will convert with time – after the early adopters paved the way.

See you subsequent 12 months

There have been many, many different subjects of dialog at FootPRINT3D – too many to cowl the occasion conclusively. Our primary takeaway is that 3D printing is totally revolutionizing footwear manufacturing, however the excellent concord between the expertise and the applying is but to be developed – leaving loads of room for brand new gamers within the trade, which is way from saturated. Given the relative ease of entry to start out (people are actually printing footwear of their garages utilizing $200 printers), we are able to count on to see them emerge imminently.

If you’re one in every of these aspiring gamers, we extremely counsel you attend subsequent 12 months’s occasion, which we’ll offer you the small print of as quickly as they’re accessible!