Have you ever found it difficult to buy the style you want when shopping for shoes? Now, with the help of several Ultimaker 3D printers,
fashion retailer Eram and design studio Unistudio offer customers the ability to create their own heel designs and print them in-store.
Together, they answer the question of how 3D printing enhances the customer experience in a shoe store.
Atelier 27 is a collaboration between Eram and Unistudio. Customers can use a special app in the store to design their personalized high heels.
Large or small heels? The choice is yours. Stripes? No problem.
Or cover them with stars and cactus emblems? Of course, that's your style!
Once the design is complete, the app converts it into an STL file ready for 3D printing. The heel shell will be printed in an hour, then attached to the sole.
The heel shell of the high heels is 3D printed and then inserted into the shoe. The customer's design in the app comes to life in the 3D printer.
A Unique Challenge
Unistudio co-founder Paul-Etienne Meligne stated: "The most challenging part of this project was finding a 3D printer that could provide customers with the simplest
workflow, high-quality experience, and product.
Because shoppers have to wait for their shoes to print, the print speed needs to be as fast as possible.For the fastest prints, Unistudio and Eram used an
Ultimaker 2+ with a 0.6mm layer height, which only takes two passes to lay down the 1.2mm thick plastic shell of the heel.
Print reliability is also important, which is why they chose Ultimaker 3D printers to print PLA material, as they can
rely on its print quality.
New Experiences
Paul-Etienne summarized the design brought by 3D printing, saying: "Every experience we offer is new, 'unseen'," which is our
competitive advantage.
And the results?The idea caught the attention of the French public with media coverage across radio, television, and newspapers, and customers also had a lot of positive
feedback.
One shopper, taking away their personalized Atelier 27 shoes, said it's a good idea to offer a new shopping experience with a 3D printer, as there are so many possibilities.
In the future, Eram and Unistudio want to do more events and on a bigger scale.Explore other innovative ways 3D printing is being used in product design.
Source: https://ultimaker.com/en/stories/50761-eram-heels-3d-printing-personalized-shoes-in-store