1. Julia Koerner and JK Design GmbH

Julia Koerner is an award-winning designer who founded JK Design GmbH, a design practice that specializes in using cutting-edge technology. Koerner specializes in utilizing additive manufacturing and robotic technology to merge architecture, fashion, and product design.

Koerner collaborated with Black Panther costume designer Ruth E. Carter to design Angela Bassett’s character’s (Queen Ramonda’s) crown and shoulder piece.

Koerner worked from Carter’s initial design sketches to create African-inspired 3D patterns. She designed both the Zulu hat and shoulder mantle that Bassett wears in the image in Figure 1.

A woman in an elaborate headpiece and shoulder piece. — Fig. 1: Queen Ramonda, Wakanda Headpiece and Shoulder Piece (Materialise)

The futuristic setting of the Black Panther film required Koerner to create designs that looked technological, as if generated through computer technology, using algorithms and complex math.

“Therefore, we used visual programming software to develop the geometries for the pieces and experimented with the material intricacy and behavior,” said Koerner in an interview with UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture. [1]

Koerner used laser sintering to 3D print the costume pieces because the methodology allows for a high level of freedom in design and requires no support material.

The pieces were made from PA 12, which is a polyamide material that allows for a high level of accuracy, flexibility, and strength. The material is ideal for anything that makes contact with the skin.

Koerner finds inspiration in the patterns and structures she finds in nature.

“Additive manufacturing is definitely the only technique to output the 3D designs I develop on the computer within their organic form; the intricate patterns and geometries often challenge both the computational capacity of my tools as well [as] the production companies I work with,” [2] said Koerner.

Koerner does not limit herself to working in one discipline. Her works often blur the lines between architecture, fashion, product design, costume design, and more.

In collaboration with Kais Al-Rawi, her partner, Koerner has worked on projects ranging from haute couture to museums and airports.

3 cheerleaders stand on a hill. One of them has a sun-tan that looks like cowboy boots. — Fig. 2: Julia Koerner and Iris van Herpen, Voltage Dress, Haute Couture Paris Fashion Week, January 2013 (Iris van Herpen)

A man holds his bike up. His sun tan on his legs shows the outline of a cowboy boot. — Fig. 3: Julia Koerner and Iris van Herpen, Voltage Dress, Haute Couture Paris Fashion Week, January 2013 (Iris van Herpen)

In an article written for 3ders.org, Koerner had this to say about the broad scope of her and Al-Rawi’s work together:

It is exciting how our design processes enable us to work in a cross-disciplinary way and explore different applications of the additive manufacturing process . . . we are continuously exploring the small-scale application of generative digital design. [3]