Flower power

Get ready for some uplifting bright florals, gothic architecture inspired fabrics, and a sportswear jacket that does far more than meets the eye; this month we are delving into the fashion world and the impact of wide-format printing technology on the industry.

Having noticed the sheer amount of fashion related printing stories, we here at Print Monthly thought it was only right to dedicate a whole feature to the topic. The capabilities of printers these days is certainly allowing designers to be bolder, more creative. In some cases, bespoke handcrafted work is actually taking a backseat in favour of a move to using printed designs. These are all made possible with the latest technology, from printing manufacturers both yourself and I have read about in this very magazine.

Take Epson, for example. The print giant was the chosen manufacturer for fashion designer Richard Quinn when tasked with decorating a stage at Port Eliot Festival, held in Cornwall in July. The festival celebrated words, music, fashion, nature, and food. One stage, called The Wardrobe Department, hosted interviews with design legends, and was designed and produced by Quinn.



In his new studio, Quinn used Epson’s Sure Color SC-F9200 to print Mylar metallic wall coverings and Premier Textiles furniture fabric for the festival stage. Quinn was even interviewed on stage about his new collection to be shown later this year at London Fashion Week.

“Being invited to create a unique, one off set for the festival was such an exciting prospect,” says Quinn, adding: “Although initially daunting because I had to create so many appropriate surfaces and textiles for the set, the Epson technology, its ease of use and multiple available substrates made the task straight forward, cost effective and achievable in a short time frame.

“My design and print is all about the colour vibrancy and the Epson technology allowed me to get the desired Pantones with ease across all the substrates. The Sure Color SC-F9200 has been so efficient for our fashion line and this was the first time exploring upholstery fabrics—a great success. The Epson option for a 4 pass plus 30 ensured the thicker pile fabrics are as vibrant as others, making the Parker Knoll furniture really pop.”


Richard Barrow, senior product manager at Epson Europe comments on how more designers are seeing the capabilities of Epson technology: “It is very exciting how Richard is exploring the considerable flexibility of digital print to take his designs onto a wide variety of substrates. He is leading the vanguard of new young designers who are taking advantage of the considerable power of digital to create new opportunities and businesses.”

High in demand

On top of this, students from Birmingham City University’s (BCU) School of Fashion and Textiles recently demonstrated the flexibility of Epson inkjet by producing home furnishing designs with the technology.

The Sure Color SC-F wide-format dye-sublimation printer and desktop Sure Color SC-F2000 direct-to-fabric printer take pride of place in the university’s digital print suite and are said to be ‘high in demand’ by students.

Designs for items such as wallpaper, sofas, cushions, and lamps were created using the printers and were also displayed at FESPA in Germany.

However, Epson did not just recommend the printers and leave the students to it; the company is keen to educate the younger generation so they can have as much success as possible. As part of the project, the students attended a colour management workshop at Epson UK’s headquarters to gain skills that will help them maximise the quality of their designs.

Epson awarded Shannon Keenan, a BA (Hons) Textile Design graduate, with a ‘Creativity in Digital Print’ award for her project combining satin and diaphanous textiles, surface embellishments, and Sure Color SC-F digital print to produce fabrics inspired by gothic architecture.

“Working with Epson has been brilliant for the students, showing them the skills and considerations required for commercial print production in relation to our own fabulous facilities,” says Kate



Farley, lecturer in Textile Design at BCU, adding: “Epson’s generosity in supporting the course in a number of ways shows how mutually beneficial these partnerships can be.”

Heather Kendle, market development manager at Epson Europe, adds: “Since Epson started working with BCU, we have consistently been impressed by the quality and creativity we have seen from the students. The ability to combine print with other elements is what came through in Shannon’s work, as well as her attention to detail and understanding of what a commercial brief may require.”

Opening doors

Hybrid Services, exclusive UK and Ireland distributors for Mimaki, has spoken out on the impact Mimaki printing technology has had on the fashion industry. The company continues to drive the digital fashion printer sector, with many textile machine launches at this year’s FESPA. It highlights its TS30-1300 dye-sublimation printer as the ideal entry level solution, costing £7,495.

Brett Platt, textile product manager for Hybrid Services, says: “The TS30 will open doors to fashion designers and studios thanks to its low cost and ease of use. It offers unique features such as eye-catching fluorescent inks and gives fashion professionals a tool that brings print to life. For sampling purposes, it is no longer good enough to present a fashion design idea on paper and the TS30 makes it cost-effective to show compelling samples or even made up garments on a range of different polyester fabrics.”

Platt also highlights Mimaki’s three production textile printers, the TS300P-1800, Tx300P-1800, and Tx300P-1800B. He says: “With the 300 Series textile and dye-sublimation printers, Mimaki has the strongest offering available and the take up from fashion companies, universities, and design studios has been significant. The recent launch of the belt fed Tx300P-1800B has enabled cotton jersey, very lightweight silk and other more challenging textiles to be printed to, whilst retaining ultrahigh print quality thanks to its stable fabric transport.”

Mimaki also launched the Tiger-1800B this year, which Platt says is capable of bringing “fast fashion” back to the UK, for example, when producing limited edition clothing collections.

Platt concludes: “Our printers are used by up and coming university students to show their final year portfolios, small fashion houses to produce one-off dresses for discerning clients, large print providers who serve many of our high street retailers with exciting, high fashion product lines, and global designers looking for a runway piece that will appear in the pages of the latest magazines. As a hardware distributor, there has never been a more exciting time to be involved in the fashion industry.”

One establishment that has invested in Mimaki’s TX300P-1800 textile printer is Heriot Watt University’s School of Textiles and Design. Its 25 final year Design for Textiles students were able to output designs onto a range of fabrics for their degree show.



The TX300P-1800 is a 1.8m wide textile printer which can print on cotton, silk, wool, and polyester—providing plenty of choice for fashion designers. The machine has a production speed of up to 55sq m/h and is ideal for short to medium run production, especially to produce items such as furnishings and other textiles.

“Our existing Mimaki printers have served us well for over 10 years but with the added capacity of the new Tx300, we’re able to more efficiently deliver the long runs required by our students for their final year collections,” says senior technician, Dr Roger Spark.

He continues: “We offer the potential for not only the Design for Textiles undergraduates to print their work but also the provision of printed fabric for our Fashion students to make into garments in our sewing workshops.”

Spark also notes how the Tx300P-1800 has fitted into their print room “perfectly”.



Hybrid Services’ national sales manager, textile and apparel, Stephen Woodall, comments on the use of the Tx300P-1800 at Heriot Watt University: “This is one of the very first of the new printers to be installed in a university and it’s great to see students benefiting from the absolute latest textile printing technology. Heriot Watt’s undergraduate textile courses offer a unique and valuable opportunity for prospective fashion designers to experience industry standard equipment and processes.”

Winning gold

Of course, there are many different areas of fashion, from children’s wear to costumes. Another area is sportswear, which as a sector requires not only style but practicality. Kayaking apparel company, Peak UK, spent four years making its Racer ST garment by combining a jacket, life jacket, and spraydeck into one item. The combination reduced the thickness of the life jacket by 20 to 30mm, and reduced the overall weight of the jacket, resulting in increased speed for canoeists.

Peak UK founder, Pete Astles, explains: “From the very early stages of the initial idea, we knew we had a completely unique and groundbreaking piece of kit that could give athletes the edge over their competitors. With the Rio 2016 Olympic Games coming up, we decided to approach British Canoeing and explore the possibility of supplying the kit for the athletes.”

O Factoid: Port Eliot Festival posed interesting debates about whether fashion can be utilised as a form of protest. It showcased ‘Cancel Brexit’ t-shirts designed by Katharine Hamnett, where proceeds from sales will support the Cancel Brexit campaign. O

British Canoeing were won over, and entered a partnership with Peak UK to become official suppliers of the kit at the Olympic Games. However, having only produced prototypes of the garment by hand, Peak UK needed to invest in technology that would allow them to put Team GB’s branding onto the product.

Astles adds: “We were instantly drawn to the Roland DG Texart RT-640 dye-sublimation transfer printer because it was more industrial and robust than its competitors, with the open design making it easier to service, clean, and maintain. We quickly got to grips with the machine and one year later, we still cannot fault it. The machine is truly faultless, effortlessly printing high quality prints to the extent where we have not had one bad print.”



The Texart RT-640 from Roland DG, with its printing resolution of 1,440dpi, is said to be ideal for sublimated sportswear, soft-signage, fabric for fashion, apparel, décor, and promotional goods.

Team GB athlete Joe Clarke, who wore the Racer ST garment at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, went on to win the gold medal in the K1 men’s individual. Clarke praised his thinner life jacket for providing the “marginal gains” that made his win possible.



So, wide-format printing technology is having a huge impact on fashion, enabling designers to be more creative and even helping students in their first steps into the fashion world. Furthermore, when designers such as Richard Quinn are gracing the pages of both Vogue and Print Monthly, it is clear the two worlds are closer than perhaps perceived.


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