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2017–2019: From Solar-Powered Experiments to World-First Sustainable 3D-Printed Clothing Collections
In 2017–2018, Julia Daviy began testing fully digital, distributed manufacturing workflows using large-format 3D printers. These experiments were powered by portable solar chargers developed by Compact Energy (co-founded by her), creating a partially autonomous, off-grid production process. This early integration of renewable energy with additive manufacturing demonstrated the potential of digital-to-local production systems, where energy, design, and manufacturing converge in sustainable, distributed ecosystems.
Building on these foundations, between 2017 and 2019 Daviy created the world’s first sustainable, wearable clothing collections produced on large-format 3D printers. The collections demonstrated that 3D-printed garments could be flexible, comfortable, and wearable, countering the widespread belief that additive manufacturing was limited to rigid prototypes.
Her work received global recognition: the Edison Gold Award, the ELUXE Awards, the Fast Company Best Design Innovations in the Northern America, the Green Product Award, and became a foundation for a Guinness World Record. Exhibited across the U.S. and internationally, these 3D-printed clothes established a new vision of clothing as a laboratory for Industry 4.0 and sustainability.
2018: Provisional Patent: Zero-Waste 3D Printing of Clothing
- Filed a provisional patent for an almost zero-waste method of 3D printing clothing.
- Julia Daviy developed one of the first concepts for a sustainable product lifecycle built on three pillars: near-infinite recyclability of materials, digital manufacturing at scale, and circular supply chains. Beginning with 3D-printable clothing, she tested how garments could be designed, customized, and produced on-demand while eliminating waste and enabling regenerative loops.
Key Moments
- World’s first sustainable 3D-printed fashion collections (NYFW, 2018)
- Provisional patent for near zero-waste 3D printing of clothing (2018)
- Founded New Age Lab in Miami; first physical 3D-printed fashion manufacturing studio; produced first commercially available garments (2019)
- First 4D-printed garments: clothing that changed shape in real time (2019)
- Multicolor, fabric-like 3D printed textiles (2019)
- Developed large-format 3D printer for super-flexible materials (2020)
- Collaborated with startups on bio-based flexible 3D-printing materials (2019–2020)
- First multi-technology 3D-printed handbag line (NYFW, 2020)
- ♻️ Circular jewelry Industry 4.0 / additive manufacturing system with recycled silver + cloud-stored designs (2021)
The Liberation Collection (2018)
The First 3D-Printed Clothing Collection Using Solar Energy & Large-Format Industrial 3D Printers (2018)
2018 – The Liberation Collection
New York Fashion Week
- World’s first sustainable 3D-printed clothing collection produced on large-format industrial printers and powered by solar energy.
- Debuted at the Future of Fashion Conference & Show during NYFW.
- Established Daviy as the pioneer to bring large-scale additive manufacturing into wearable fashion.
After Forever Collection (2019, New Age Lab, Miami)
nNew Age Lab, Miami
- Introduced the world’s first digitally made, digitally customizable 3D-printed skirt.
- Expanded into jackets and shirts that explored computational design and NetZero approaches.
- Pioneered a shortened supply chain and on-demand production model: customers could order a customizable skirt, which was 3D-printed and delivered within just 10 days.
- Marked the first step toward commercially viable, consumer-accessible 3D-printed clothing.
Forma Mutanda: The First 4D-Printed Clothing Project (2019)
In 2019, Julia Daviy and New Age Lab pioneered Forma Mutanda, the world’s first 4D-printed clothing collection. Unlike traditional garments, these pieces were conceived as soft, programmable architecture: textiles that could change their form under internal and external influences. Sleeves extended or shortened, lengths adjusted fluidly, and the very structure of the clothing shifted in response, embodying the fourth dimension of time and transformation.
In 2019, Daviy presented a skirt from the collection at a show as an invited guest of Architects of Change in San Diego, a platform inspired by the former First Lady of California.
In 2020, a 4D-printed suit from Forma Mutanda was exhibited at the Feminist Futurist exhibition at the Boston Center for the Arts, marking the first public display of 4D-printed wearable architecture.
Forma Mutanda redefined the idea of clothing: not as a fixed object, but as a living, evolving system, a precursor to future adaptive and regenerative design.
Tessera Project: Multicolor, Flexible 3D-Printed Textiles (2019)
In 2019, at New Age Lab in Miami, Julia Daviy and her team developed the Tessera Project, pioneering multicolor 3D printing with super-flexible materials for textiles and clothing. The innovation produced garments with the softness, drape, and flexibility of fabric: shorts, skirts, and tops that looked woven rather than printed.
By combining flexibility with surface richness, Tessera Project redefined the possibilities of additive manufacturing in fashion, proving that 3D-printed textiles could be both wearable and expressive. It laid the foundation for programmable, fabric-like materials and opened a new path for sustainable design within Industry 4.0.
Mortphogenesis Collection (2020)
New York Fashion Week
- The first multi-technology 3D-printed handbag and purse collection, integrating four additive manufacturing technologies and seven different materials.
- Presented as a nine-piece collection during NYFW.
- Research behind the Morphogenesis Collection revealed that, compared to a leather bag of the same size, the lifecycle of a 3D-printed bag generated 92% less CO₂ emissions, 98% less solid waste, and consumed 99% less water with significant potential to move toward net-positive impact as material innovations advance.
- Pushed the boundaries of functionality, durability, and aesthetics in accessories.
Methanoa Collection (2021)
2021 – Methanoa Circular Jewelry Project
Los Angeles
- Jewelry collection combining computational design, 3D printing, and recycled silver.
- Recycled silver was deliberately chosen to test the concept of infinitely recyclable materials.
- The project also piloted on-cloud storage of 3D-printable designs and distributed, localized manufacturing — pointing toward a new model where products can be reproduced anywhere without wasteful shipping or resource extraction.
- Served as proof that luxury goods could align with NetZero and circular principles while opening a path to digitally enabled, regenerative supply chains.
First jewelry line designed as an experiment in infinite recyclability, cloud-based design storage, and distributed production.
Demonstrated that advanced design could be used as a testbed for circular systems beyond fashion, expanding into materials, logistics, and industry.
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