Past Features
Fashion Tech Week
"The First Step In A Digital Supply Chain"
Virtual event that ran from October 15 - 30th, 2020
For Fashion brands, adopting a digital strategy may have been a concept that was being pitched internally, left up to individual teams or a simply a bullet point in the 5-year plan. But the state of the economy and the declining health of the industry is forcing companies to hit the fast forward button- innovation is no longer a luxury but a necessity.
Lizz Hill, former Director of 3D Prototyping at Coach, shares how she implemented a globally supported 3D prototyping workflow at Coach, back in 2012 which quickly transformed the materials design and development process. She shares her insight into why this American fashion house now relies on a digital strategy, comparing and contrasting the challenges of implementing 3D printing then with the relative ease, low costs and necessity of implementation today.
How Industrial Design Can Save Fashion
On October 27, 2020, Lizz joined Keith Kirkland, Co-founder of WearWorks, and host, Rob Price, Senior Design Consultant and Creative Director at Price Design NYC for a (virtual) conversation about how innovative design thinking is transforming the Fashion Industry. They discussed how emerging industrial designers can shape the post-pandemic future by using technology, sustainability and human centered practices.
"A Conversation With..."
On August 8th, 2019, at WeWork in Dumbo, Lizz sat down with Christina Perla and Alyssa Burris of Makelab and Women in 3D Printing to kick off a quarterly series with inspiring women in the 3D printing industry.
At this inaugural fireside chat Lizz shared her experiences around driving innovation at Coach, building a technological based team within the Fashion industry and talked about the challenges of being a female pioneer in a predominantly male field.
Formlabs User Summit
Boston, Massachusetts
On May 8th, 2019, Lizz participated in a rapid fire round of Industry Vignettes where she shared how Formlabs SLA Desktop Printers have given new credibility to 3D printing applications within the fashion industry.
The Handmade: Drawing the Line- Panel Discussion
On Wednesday, November 14, 2018, Lizz joined NEW INC's Head of Operations, Alex Darby and NEW INC Members Nik Bentel & Yuchen Zhang for a conversation about jewelry and new technology- a panel discussion debating and deconstructing the mythology of the handmade in the digital age. The Handmade: Drawing the Line, discussed how we redefine the handmade as a concept in contemporary craft practice. As we navigate new technologies and the proliferation of digital fabrication techniques, it is critical to rethink the framework of how bodies manipulate materials in order to consider both direct, and indirect physical actions. If we expand the concept of the handmade to include indirect control over physical assets through digital manipulation, we can create a future for craft that is less siloed and more inclusive.
NEW INC is the New Museum's incubator for art, technology, and design. 231 Bowery, New York, NY 10002
A 3D Printed Jewelry Exhibition - NYC Jewelry Week 2018
Hosted by Pratt Institute in Partnership with Formlabs
The 3D printing industry is working diligently to meet the needs of various industries- benchmarking and improving upon long standing manufacturing methods. But what happens when we look at 3D printing for what it can offer rather than what it can do? The Additive Hand is an exhibit of work by various digital artists and jewelry designers exploring how 3D printed materials can be used in uncommon ways to create wearable art and jewelry.
On November 12th, as part of the first annual New York City Jewelry Week, Lizz curated a Jewelry Exhibition at The Gallery at The Juliana Curran Terian Design Center at Pratt Institute which featured contemporary jewelry made through various 3D printing techniques. The work remained on display to the public for one week.
Smarter Living Design Challenge - NYCxDesign
Hosted by Makerbot, Sponsored by Voodoo Manufacturing
On May 17, 2018, MakerBot hosted a design and 3D printing challenge for NYCxDESIGN, 3D Printing for Smarter Living, in which 15 NYC designers were given a Replicator+ desktop 3D printer and asked to create a 3D printable objects that can improve daily life, make a process more efficient, or improve a daily ritual.
Lizz designed a 3D printable adapter and socket for use in combination with your own digital design and commercially available Monkey Hooks to create a wide array of weight-bearing, wall-hanging designs for your NYC home without the need for wall anchors and power tools!
The 3D files for the adapter and socket are available for download on Lizz's Thingiverse page.
Women In Tech Summit Northeast
On Saturday, April 14th, 2018, Lizz participated in the Women In Tech Summit - Northeast at the Philadelphia Science History Institute. Lizz gave her original talk, "3D Tech and Consumerism; Shaping the Face of Fashion" at the Science History Institute in Philadelphia. This talk looks at how the fashion industry is beginning to make its shift towards 3D and why the consumer is at the heart of this movement.
Lizz was also engaged in a panel discussion with four other women in technology based careers around the topic of, "Tech careers for now and the future - Technology does not stand still and neither should you."
The summit was attended by over 500 women involved in technology-based occupations.
Interview Feature on Geek Of Chic Web Series
Lizz recently had the pleasure of doing an interview, hosted by the team at Geek of Chic where they discussed how 3D technology is being used in fashion. She also discussed the common types of 3D printing used in both the fashion and jewelry industries as well as the common softwares used.
View the full 6-minute interview on the Geek of Chic website or their YouTube channel.
Interview Feature Article; 3-D Printing Poised To Revolutionize The Fashion Industry
Women @ Forbes, Written by Tracey Welson-Rossman
An excerpt from the article:
"Wiker says one of the biggest misconceptions about her job is that it exists in a vacuum. She says that being a really good 3D modeler requires an understanding of fabrication, manufacturing and engineering so that you can turn a hand sketch or 2-D illustration into a 3-D model. In fact, one of her team’s biggest contributions during this engineering process is to find and resolve conflicts between the intended design aesthetic and the functional requirements of the end product. They can even anticipate the challenges that factories will have when sampling the part and can work closely with design partners to create a finalized 3D model that is manufacturable and still achieves the original design intent."
Article Feature
MatterHackers.com
MatterHackers is an online resource for educators and 3D printing enthusiasts alike.
Lizz wrote an exclusive article for them which was published in their December newsletter and is available online.
Promoting 3D Printing Design & Tech Through Custom Jewelry
An excerpt from the article:
"One of my most anticipated moments upon meeting someone new is when I tell them what I do for a living. When I tell them that I am a professional 3D modeler and run a 3D print lab, a bulb lights up; one that shines bright with familiarity, excitement and curiosity. I then ask them (knowing well what the answer will be) if they are familiar with 3D printing. They are. And they proceed to describe the first time they saw a 3D printer in action and recall how mesmerized they were by it, watching its plastic filament, zipping around in space, slowly building something from nothing. They describe to me, one of the many desktop FDM printers which are currently occupying public libraries, school’s makerspaces, and maker events and conventions across the country."
Interview Feature, Article by Women In 3D Printing
After a successful #3D Talk on 3D Printing and Fashion, on Thursday, September 14th, the Women In 3D Printing group kindly asked Lizz to do a interview feature. The article talks about what her career is like, how she specifically uses 3D technology and what her inspirations are.
An excerpt from the article:
"As awareness about 3D technology continues to be mainstreamed, I believe it will begin to rapidly infiltrate the industry on the consumer engagement side. I think we are going to see 3D technology on the retail side of larger brands emerge through the use of virtual fitting rooms, in-store/online promotions of bespoke product and in ad-campaigns like we are already seeing with some of the bigger names like the Louis Vuitton ‘Series 4’, back in 2016.
Driven largely by emerging designers and smaller brands that have proven to be more flexible in their use and adoption of the technology, we’re currently walking right up to the edge of how 3D printing can be used on the manufacturing side through the use of 3D printed textiles in place of the of the traditional “cut and sew” method. This can be likened to the industry’s current “full-fashioned” approach to garments which are knit in segments and then those segments are joined together to create full garments. Some labels are experimenting and prototyping with 3D printing (largely on FDM desktop printers) by printing “textile” panels to create garments and though it is currently quite cost and time prohibitive, I think this represents a promising direction that 3D technology will evolve into over the next 10 years."
STEM Career Day Panel Discussion
Tuesday, November 7th, 2017, MakerBot, Brooklyn, NY
Lizz participated on a panel discussion as part of the Department of Education's annual STEM Career Day where high-school students chose to visit a STEM related host company. The panel discussed how each of the 3D printing users currently use 3D printing in their day job. Panelists also discussed their knowledge and excitement around the various directions the industry is moving in and gave advice for students looking to pursue a career in a role in 3D technology.
Intro to 3D Jewelry Design
TechGirlz Workshop, Saturday, October 28th, 2017, NYU Tandon MakerSpace, Brooklyn
Lizz, in partnership with TechGirlz, along with 5 teaching assistants held a 3-hr workshop on 3D modeling, using Tinkercad. The girl's ages raged from 9 to 13-years old; there were 17 students that attended the class. They were given an overview on 3D printing and how its used in the Fashion, Jewelry and Athletic Footwear industries along with a brief overview of the most common types of 3D printers and 3D modeling softwares. They were then walked through a step-by-step, hands on demonstration and tutorial on how to make a bangle in Tinkercad. Before they moved on to work on their own design, Lizz explained how online 3D printing services, like Shapeways.com can be a useful tool to have your own items made, encouraging students to continue on their journey into 3D technology after the class is over.
Prototyping + Iterative Design Panel, Formlabs NYC Roadshow
Thursday, October 19th, 2017, Parsons School of Design
Lizz was joined by fellow panelists, Limor Fried (Adafruit), Jerrod Kennard (KPF Architecture) and Isaac Blankensmith (Google) to discuss how design industry leaders from NYC are using CAD and 3D printing to make prototyping more accessible than ever before. Panelists shared their expertise on bringing customized designs and complex geometries to life by combining heritage techniques with new technology. Moderated by John Biggs (TechCrunch.)
Video Featured on Tapestry.com
Lizz was featured in the promotional video on the landing page of Tapestry.com. Tapestry, Inc, is the new name for the parent company (formally known as Coach, Inc.) currently home to the Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman brands.
"Joy is being content with who you are."
"Style is about expressing yourself without worrying if anyone else is going to get it."
"Something new has happened; a new discovery, a new advancement, a new success."
#3D Talk - 3D Printing + Fashion
Thursday, September 14th, 2017, Brooklyn, NY
Cyant and Women in 3D Printing presented #3DTalk, an industry specific and educational event focused on 3D printing and and its use in fashion. The talk featured leading women in the industry who are working each day in the field who discussed how they are utilizing this new technology area to disrupt fashion design and product development and manufacturing.
A recap article published by NYU Tandon can be viewed here as well as a blog post by EM in StEM.
NYU Tandon's "Empower Hour"
Thursday, December 1st, 2016, Brooklyn, NY
3D Technology & Consumerism: Shaping the Face of Fashion
The symbiotic relationship between the (taste) Maker and the Consumer has long been a complicated one, though few will argue that the consumer’s interests and motivation has always been at the root of what drives trends in fashion. And while the fashion industry has taken many different routes to deliver product to the hands of their customer, the methods they have used to create that product speak to a long history of tradition and craftsmanship.
The fashion industry has always been slow to adopt new and emerging technologies. However, with the recent and tremendous growth of the consumer’s awareness and increasing interest in 3D technology, the industry is quickly reaching a tipping point. '3D Technology & Consumerism; Shaping The Face of Fashion' looks at how the fashion industry is beginning to make its shift towards 3D and why the consumer is at the heart of this movement.