Safilo has stuck a partnership with Stratasys; the eyewear giant will use 3D printing for several key brands like Carrera, Dior, and more.
Global eyewear maker, Safilo, has inked a deal to use Stratasys’ J750 full colour, multi-material 3D printer to produce its photorealistic frames 60 times faster than compared with traditional prototyping methods. The accelerated speed helps with creating ultra-smooth surfaces and rich colour details.
From high-end luxury to mass-cool, the marque is set to apply the new, advanced approach to generate prototypes for a number of brands, including its own Safilo, Carrera, and Polaroid, as well as those from design houses such as Dior, Hugo Boss, Max Mara, and Jimmy Choo, to name a few.
According to the company’s Product Sample Coordinator, Daniel Tomasin, the adoption of the Stratasys J750 printer has transformed the eyewear prototyping process, reducing the time to design and prototype frames from 15 hours using a CNC machine and manual finishing to just three hours.
Safilo Creative Designer Associate Director, David Iarossi, added that for brands like Carrera, Givenchy, and Havaianas, the ability to use 3D-print prototypes with the same colour and texture as the finished product is instrumental in ensuring that the company responds quickly to market trends.
“This is the start of a new age for designers. This allows us to multiple designs early, enabling us to launch the latest fashion eyewear on-time and maintain our competitive edge. Stratasys 3D printing is fantastic; we no longer need to worry about the paint fading as the colour is integrated,” said Iarossi.
