At times, the entrances at the 2019 Met Gala felt like a parade of advancements in apparel manufacturing. Zendaya's Cinderella dress lit up; Katy Perry walked around in a functioning chandelier. One of the most impressive design feats came courtesy of Zac Posen, who partnered with GE Additive x Protolabs to marry "camp" with 3D printing.
"I’ve always wanted to work with 3D printing to push the boundaries of art and fashion," Zac Posen tells Glamour. He has a history of incorporating technology with design, and for the Met Gala, in particular. In 2016, he made a gown for Claire Danes that literally glowed in the dark. This year, he incorporated 3D printing into the process, creating a series of striking ensembles for an incredibly stylish crew that included Nina Dobrev, Jourdan Dunn, Katie Holmes, Julia Garner, and Deepika Padukone.
Of all the looks Posen created for the 2019 Met Gala using this technology, Dobrev's really stands out, for multiple reasons. First off, it's quite different from the voluminous, floor-grazing gowns fans expect from the designer. (Dobrev's was a mini.) Then, there's the glossy, translucent fabric, which almost acts as a tromp d'oeil on the red carpet. Posen says it's meant to mimic "a glass slipper, perfume bottle, rock crystal interpreted through my draping. It takes you into a surreal futuristic fantasy."
See it for yourself.
"I wanted a creation that was light and felt like I was floating," Dobrev says. "Zac designed this bustier to be angelic and whimsical. At the end of the day, there was lots of talk between teams and I trust the professionals to do what they do best. Between Zac, Kate Young [her stylist], Chris McMillan [her hairstylist], and Charlotte Tilbury [her makeup artist], they discussed and decided on the direction that complemented but didn’t overwhelm the futuristic bodice and executed it beautifully."
Dobrev's dress actually consists of four parts, which come together in the shape of her exact measurements. The top layer, a bustier, is made using Somos Watershed XC 11122 Plastic, the almost glass-like finish a result of wet hand-sanding and spraying with a top coat.
The actress says the fitting was...different, to say the least. "About a month and a half before the Met Gala, Zac’s team had me do the most untraditional fitting I’ve done to date: They put me in a spandex body suit and I stood on a platform opposite a camera that snapped 360 degree photo," Dobrev explains. "It took a minute and a half for about 15 to 20 photos, which I had to stand completely still for. We did this about six times." The result? A polymer bustier made for her, and her alone.
"It was a pretty futuristic fitting concept," Dobrev continues. "Pretty cool and cutting-edge."
Posen has dressed Dobrev before—she was even his date to the 2018 CFDA Awards. What she loves about working with Posen is how "he designs for each individual woman, to create something that makes them beautiful and special."
"This bustier is an incredible example of what he does best, and I feel that it's a perfect homage to the incredible classic sculptures at the Met," she says.
