Love & Robots is the revolutionary brainchild of sisters Emer, Kate and Aoibheann O’Daly, who are part of a new wave of international design businesses that are challenging the traditions of making and selling. Winners of the Dublin Web Summit Spark of Genius Award and Enterprise Ireland’s Competitive Start Fund, their marriage of fashion and innovative technology which allows you to co-create what you buy has swiftly grown a global fan base. We spoke to Emer to find out more.
What was the desire behind establishing Love & Robots?
The idea started for a number of reasons; when we first started we had this passion for design, and fashion and jewellery, and we recognised this opportunity to use 3D printing and the internet and how we could create a brand that produces in a different way. Traditionally a brand might have ideas, come up with products, get them produced, and hope they sell. Our idea was instead of doing that, the customer arrives in at the beginning of the conversation and co-creates the product with you, so the idea was that we would create online tools to help the customer customise a design which then gets manufactured once they order it. Depending on the type of process they wish to use, like laser cutting and so on, they will have different delivery times.
We got started two years ago and launched the website last year with all of the design tools and products and collections. It’s really based around personalising to your style. What we really found was that people didn’t want to design completely from scratch as that can be quite hard. You want something that you already like, and that you can give it that final twist and make it your own piece. There’s eight of us in the company now and we’re all from different backgrounds. I’m an architect, so is Kate, and my other sister Aoibheann is in software engineering. There’s graphic designers, people with backgrounds in fashion – so it’s really a mashup between design, fashion and tech.
3D printing is part of a brave new world of producing art and design. What are the freedoms and limitations, if any, of using this medium?
What makes 3D printing so interesting is that you can do things that were never possible before now. We did a collaboration with a costume designer last year, we made a sort of chainmail cape, it was made form 6,000 separate pieces that were all printed in one go. That was done in conjunction with ID2015 so it has been on display in Dublin Castle for the past few weeks. That structure wouldn’t have been possible without 3D printing, as one of the things that makes 3D printing so revolutionary is by working in additive manufacturing. So, it’s not as though you get some material and subtract the pieces you need from it, 3D printing adds one layer at a time so there is no waste. We’ve started 3D printing in silver and gold, and that’s been really exciting. The other great thing about 3D printing is that you can print on demand, rather than doing large batches and getting them made out at a factory and shipping them back. We don’t do that, we only manufacture when an order comes in. What’s great about that is that everything we do is different and at no extra cost to the customer. There are some drawbacks in that it’s difficult to do multiple materials at the same time when you are 3D printing, but again the industry is moving so fast that there could be new ways of making pretty soon. The cost, as well, will hopefully drop in the next few years as the patents expire on the 3D printers.
What kinds of materials do you 3D print in? Are there any other new technologies that you use?
We 3D print in different colours of nylon, the nylon is great because it’s lightweight and skin-safe, and you can kind of do anything with it. 3D printing in silver and gold is really versatile as well. We’ve also been using timber and laser engraving that with different patterns. One of the more popular tools we have is that you can choose anywhere in the world and, using Google Maps, we can engrave that place onto the wooden bow ties or also our coasters. It’s really cool because you can really personalise it down to the street where you live. We’re learning that personalisation rather than simply customisation is proving very popular – customisation being about changing the colour or size and personalisation really being about the individual, and their story and their life.
Another popular product is our ‘Textlace’ so we get people coming up with all sorts like ‘geebag’ and ‘gobshite’ – distinctly Irish phrases! It’s pretty fun for us because people come up with things we would never have heard of. At the moment we are in the middle of setting up a platform where other designers can sell their customisations and designs on the site, and they get a commission on the sale, and we are looking to have that launched in February.
What are the aesthetics or inspirations that inform your design work?
Well, there are four architects, and four people again who are very involved in graphic design so we tend to look at geometry and graphic design, wire frames, and are definitely influenced by architecture. There’s a big level of interactivity, and we wanted to make it fun as well so, for example, our next collection that we’re launching next month is a range of emojis and charms – I suppose you could call that pop culture. Andy Warhol is someone whose work would influence us. We also look at graffiti, graphic novels, graphic artists, and surrealism. We are quite contemporary and modern in style and our aim is that the pieces are novel, engaging and unique.
Are there any other projects or things in the works that you’re excited about?
We are planning to do a series of pop-up shops around the world to grow the brand and get it outside of Ireland, the pop-up we have that’s currently running on Dame Lane is working out so well that we feel it would be a good strategy for us. We’re planning one in London in the next few months, then New York to try out this idea of ‘customisation on the spot’. People can interact with the patterns on iPads and be able to get them made pretty much within the hour, so people can instantly see the results.
Love & Robots are currently running a pop-up at 5 Dame Lane, Dublin 2, and you can also find out more at www.loveandrobots.com
Words: Honor Fitzsimons
