Meet d3: The Emirati designer behind the 3D dress
Khulood Thani will unveil her unique design at this weekend’s Dubai Design District event
Can a dress made using 3D printing, the result of a collaboration between a fashion designer and an architect, actually be wearable?
Yes, says Khulood Bin Thani, the designer of the piece, which will be unveiled at this weekend’s Meet d3 event at Dubai Design District (d3). Her brief for the 3D dress was “being in a challenging city like Dubai, converting many hectares of desert to modern architecture”, and while she describes the design process as “very much experimental”, she challenged herself to make it wearable as well as innovative.
“Deciding on the actual material that we wanted to do the 3D printed dress [in], deciding on the cubical shape that we wanted to own for this dress, we searched all the different executed dresses in 3D printing, so we ensure that we are having something completely different and unique to express it as a ‘Dubai Design’. Then the challenge was to convert the piece to be more wearable rather than an art piece, where functionality plays a very important role.”
The dress is the result of nine months of collaboration between Khulood, designer of the Bint Thani label, and the architect Amer Aldour, INTER | ACT founder. We chatted to Khulood ahead of the unveiling of the piece.
Q. How would you describe your designs?
A. Design is a way to bring our concepts and ideas into realisation, from [the] mood-board into actual functional designs. Also, it’s a way of cultural communication of who we are [and a way of] documenting our own time; every design [acts as a] reference for a story, someone or a period of time.
Q. What were the challenges?
A. I would like to call these challenges ‘new learning’, and there are many [lessons] from this project that we both as collaborators gained and there was a lot of cross-learnings from each other. From developing an architectural concept and getting that into the 3D programme... [we worked] till we found a cubical shape that could express Dubai’s modern architecture. Then [we found] ways to make the dress more flexible, that would go with the flow of the body, by reworking the pattern of the dress itself and creating 3D printed networks underneath the dress. We still look at this dress as an experimental one and we know that there are so many areas to learn from.
Q. What are your thoughts on d3?
A. I believe in Dubai and its vision, and I think d3 will play a very important role in shaping the identity of Middle East design in general and Dubai design in particular.
Q. What are the challenges you face as a local designer and is d3 addressing them?
A. Surprisingly, all designers around the world face the same issues when it comes into design, and some that I know about are the sourcing of the right materials, the sustainability of the source, and the production. Though I don’t believe that these are unsolvable factors, I just believe that the designers have to [put more] effort and research when it comes into these areas.
Q. How do you define creativity?
A. By being ‘original’.
Q. You’re involved with Not Just A Label. How has that furthered your company?
A. I believe in the vision of NJAL in promoting contemporary fashion. NJAL picked Bint Thani for Origin. Passion and Beliefs 2014 in Vicenza, Italy, last year, where I have displayed an artistic project, Between the Dunes, that reflects the icons from our own environment such as the camel and the desert. So I have created a dress made of sand dunes, and I have used camel leather to create an unconventional accessory. The piece was later displayed in XVA Gallery in Dubai.
Q. What’s next for you?
A. Origin. Passion & Beliefs 2015, supported by NJAL that will be happening in May this year, and we are excited to be part of it again along with many designers from all around the world.
Fashion and design events not to miss at Meet d3:
WINK
Conceived and constructed by architects Masakazu Shirane and Saya Miyazaki of Tokyo, Japan. Wink Space is a mobile marvel of design. The world’s first zipper architecture, Wink is a triangulated system of flat, hard, mirrored panels of varying sizes, connected by zippers. The architects can give the flat bed configuration a three-dimensional form through an origami-like process of folding and distributing tension across a system of suspension cables. Remove any single panel simply by unzipping it and let the inside and outside worlds wink at one another.
LASVIT’S WORKSHOPS
If you ever wanted to try your hand at glass-blowing, this is your opportunity. Lasvit, the haute label behind unique works of glass, including bespoke light fittings, glass art installations and award-winning collections, has installed its outdoor glassworks furnace at the event — not only to give a unique glimpse into the world of hand-moulded blown glass manufacture, but also to invite you to participate in the process of transforming raw glass into original objects with the help of professional Czech glass makers.
ROOM SERVICE
True to its name, this curated bedroom setting by s*uce is a fully mobile shoppable installation boasting the brightest regional and international design stars. From works by the multidisciplinary Emirati artist Latifa Saeed and celebrated regional designer Khalid Shafar to host of international designers including the Lebanese pop-artist Corinne Martin, all works showcased as part of the installation are up for sale at the swipe of a touchscreen.
