Industry
Fashion & Apparel
Client
GothamSmith LTD
Project Type
Entrepreneurship
Launching a Global Fashion Brand
Challenge & Approach
Four designers from New York challenged themselves to transition from working with bits to working with atoms, leveraging emerging 3D printing technology to create accessible, design-forward jewelry and accessories. As co-founder of GothamSmith, I led product design and strategy to explore how digital manufacturing could democratize physical goods creation and enable rapid iteration on forms that would be prohibitively expensive through traditional fabrication. The core insight came from examining overlooked industrial objects (hex nuts, bicycle gears, everyday mechanical components) and questioning how their utilitarian forms could be elevated into wearable pieces. We established a design process that compressed ideation-to-market timelines from months to weeks by prototyping directly in 3D-printable materials through Shapeways, validating both aesthetics and manufacturability before committing to production tooling.
System Design & Material Exploration
I developed a design methodology centered on rapid physical iteration rather than extensive CAD refinement. When inspiration struck during a meeting (observing a wayward hex nut on a conference table), I sketched variations obsessively, then moved immediately to 3D modeling and ordered test prints in multiple materials (stainless steel, bronze steel, sterling silver) to understand how build lines, surface finish, and reflectivity would affect the final form. The Twist Ring exemplified this approach: a simple 60-degree rotation of a hexagonal form created six curving panels that acted as miniature funhouse mirrors, transforming a five-minute CAD operation into something unexpectedly compelling. However, initial prototypes revealed gaps between aesthetic success and wearability. I spent weeks refining twist angles, wall thickness, and edge fillets to ensure the ring sat comfortably between fingers while preserving its industrial character. This iterative prototyping loop, enabled by on-demand 3D printing, became our competitive advantage.
Outcomes & Impact
GothamSmith successfully launched multiple product lines: mustache and bicycle gear cufflinks, the Twist Ring collection, and various accessories, gaining press coverage in Cool Material and featuring in Shapeways' designer spotlight series showcasing how 3D printing was enabling new creative entrepreneurship models. The products balanced whimsical conceptual hooks with refined execution, making design-forward accessories accessible at $50-$155 price points rather than traditional luxury jewelry pricing. More significantly, the project validated that small teams could compete in physical goods markets previously dominated by manufacturers with capital-intensive tooling infrastructure. By collapsing prototype-to-production cycles and eliminating minimum order quantities, we demonstrated how digital fabrication could enable experimentation-driven product development, testing hypotheses with real customers rather than relying on focus groups and market research to derisk investments in traditional manufacturing.
