“Dita’s Gown,” a dress designed for Dita Von Teese using 3-D printing technology — which is most often used to create objects and architectural models — caused a stir when it was first shown at a symposium on 3-D design in New York last March. 

…

The gown, which the L.A.-based Schmidt designed with the Brooklyn architect Francis Bitonti (mainly via Skype, over a four-month period), is a true marriage of fashion and architecture. Bitonti built a digital model of Von Teese’s body that Schmidt used to design the garment so that it fit the burlesque performer to a T. Shapeways, a leader in 3-D printing, produced the dress’s 17 sections, which were then assembled by hand before being polished, lacquered and encrusted with more than 12,000 Swarovski crystals. With a netlike nylon structure connected by nearly 3,000 unique joints, the gown is the first fully articulated garment made using 3-D printing.

Big deal. Print me some shorts that actually fit me and I'll be impressed.

http://francisbitonti.com/Dita-s-Gown for the original project detail images.

I wonder why the New York Times only now discovered this.

We had discussed this particular dress back in March when it first came out:

http://pandawhale.com/post/17798/3d-printer-made-this-dress-worn-by-dita-von-teese

The news hook was its June 12 debut in LA at a costume gala.

The Smithsonian magazine also covered it: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/multimedia/photos/?c=y&articleID=204136931&page=3 (ah, the wonders of medical waiting rooms)

She's a model/artist. Von Teese is her name.

Definitely an artist. She happens to like to model and perform too but she's an artist first and foremost.