We first met Cindy Fodor in summer 2021. At that time, Cindy was a fashion design student based in Vienna who was interested in digital fabrication and finding ways to incorporate it into her designs. During her 1-month internship in our makerspace in July 2022, Cindy was able to gain first experiences with 3D printing and laser cutting. Her first prototype: A hand sewn bag containing 3D printed elements on tulle. Cindy left Happylab with lots of new ideas for her upcoming final year as a fashion design student.  

Laser Cutting & 3D printing in fashion design 

Fast forward a few months to spring 2022. For her final collection ENIGMA, Cindy decided to work with laser cutters and 3D printers again to create unique pieces on the intersection between digital fabrication and traditional tailoring. For one of her pieces, 3D shapes were printed on tulle fabrics and inserted in curvy lined shapes between fabric pieces. Then, 416 laser-cut pieces were treated with fabric hardener and sewn by hand onto the 3D printed pieces. The 3D printing method was used to make the dress look more “alive” through movement when worn.

With her ENIGMA collection Cindy was one of our female role models during Female* Maker Month at Happylab in May 2022. Our main goal was to bring the spotlight on the female makers in our community and their cool projects to inspire more women* to become makers and realize their own ideas. Since then, we are hosting female maker get-togethers regularly.

Experimenting with biomaterials

Cindy’s journey through our makerspace didn’t end with her final collection as a design student, though. Quite on the contrary, it was just the beginning. While Cindy continues to work as a freelance fashion designer, she’s always looking for new innovative materials & production methods for her designs. One of her big goals is to work on the sustainability of her fashion designs. So she decided to dive into the world of biodesign and biomaterials and experiment with different ingredients and methods. Cindy was chosen as one of our Distributed Design residents at Happylab in September 2022 to work on her biomaterials “library”.

For her biomaterials experiments, Cindy has worked with many different ingredients. Three of them were used a lot: Alginate, Agar agar, and Gelatin. The ingredients are cooked, mixed, and then the mixture is cast into molds and hardened. The custom Petri dishes were created on the 3D printers at Happylab and feature special 3D patterns to shape the surface of the biomaterials.

Cindy has documented her process and results in a “Biomaterials Cookbook,” which she is happy to share with interested parties upon request! During the Distributed Design residency she also profited from the network of the platform, working together with Sofia Soledad Duarte Poblete (POLIMI, Milan) and visiting her during an exchange visit.

Cindy’s story is a perfect example of how joining a makerspace, experimenting with different technologies and connecting with other makers opens your horizons and leads you to new ideas. We’re excited to see where Cindy’s journey leads her next!

Check out Cindy’s work on her Instagram profile.

Story by Happylab Vienna