KEIGHLEY CLAY: TALKS DESIGN, DIGITAL PRINT AND THE FUTURE
Keighley Clay is a young British Designer and graduate of Central St. Martins, London. Her career began as an intern, and as a designer at the iconic British Brand Liberty.
Originally screen printing designs the Liberty design team moved over to Digital Print and it was a game changer...The creative freedom, speed and versatility of manufacture offering an exciting alternative to conventional production.
After working as a Designer at Liberty and then Cath Kidston, earlier this year I decided to make the move to go freelance.
What advice would you give to a new designer? Go out and be inspired, its so important! And original artwork is key, it's what will get you noticed and make you stand out from the crowd.
Keighley Clay Designs for Liberty - London
Patience, Talent, Inspiration and Hard work: The Essential Elements for Success:
Keighley Clay is a young British Designer and graduate of Central St. Martins, London. Her career began with a design internship at the iconic British Brand Liberty. Working under the Head of Design, Emma Mawston as a designer for over four years, Keighley learned her craft.
Originally screen printing designs the Liberty design team moved over to Digital Print and it was a game changer...The creative freedom, speed and versatility of manufacture offering an exciting alternative to conventional production:
Thanks for joining us today Keighley, tell us about your studio?
My Husband is a furniture maker and has a wonderful workshop in a converted barn on a farm in the Hertfordshire countryside, it was here that he built us a studio space. Its so lovely coming to the farm each day, I love seeing it as the seasons change, very different from getting the train into London!
Why did you choose a creative career, where did you study?
I have loved making and drawing for as long as I can remember, I used to use a tiny sewing machine and make myself dresses (two bits of fabric sewn down the sides with holes cut out for my head and arms!). I wasn’t sure what creative industry I wanted to go into, so I did a foundation course at Central St.Martins, it was here I discovered Fashion Print, I loved it and couldn’t believe when I got a place on the degree course at Central St.Martins.
When was your business formed and what do you offer?
After working as a Designer at Liberty and then Cath Kidston, earlier this year I decided to make the move to go freelance, super scary but super exciting. As I mentioned, Philip, my husband, is a furniture maker and we have always dreamed that we would work together one day. So we took the plunge! I now spend half of my time working as a freelance print designer for fashion, interior and lifestyle brands. One of the most wonderful things about freelance is the variety of different projects and briefs. The rest of my time I work with Phil, helping to grow the (now!) family business, our aim it to bring our two passions together and create an interiors brand.
Who was your Inspiration / Mentor?
Oh goodness, I have been so lucky to be surrounded by so many inspiring people. The design teams at both Liberty and Cath Kidston were so inspiring, being surrounded by creative people everyday is wonderful. Emma Mawston, who was the Head of Design at Liberty, is possibly the most passionate creative I had ever met, she taught me a lot, most of all to put my heart and soul into my work. Phil has also been a massive inspiration, he started up a furniture making business when he left University, watching its journey so far has been amazing, I don’t think I would have gone freelance without his support and encouragement.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given? Be patient! Which I am not very good at...
Of all your achievements, which are you most proud of? That Phil and I are living our dream everyday and working together, we have only just started on this new adventure, we have so far to go but I feel so proud we have even got to even this stage.
Business is full of challenges, what’s your biggest?
I feel the biggest challenge is my own mental health and attitude towards it, I have to be careful not to doubt myself and be patient when things are slow but also give myself time out when there is lots going on.
How have you utilised Digital Print?
What are the benefits for your studio. When I started my career at Liberty we screen printed everything, it is such a beautiful method of printing and looks amazing. After 4 years working on the fashion collections, Emma and I moved over to Interiors, it was here that we first started printing digitally. It was a game changer, I love that I can create original artwork, with as many colours and in whatever medium and then just sent it to the printers! Seeing my artwork on fabric feels like magic every time - it never gets old.
What’s next for the Keighley Clay Brand?
Our absolute dream is to have a range furniture, however (I am being patient!) and we are starting with a range of cushions, this will be our first collaboration and we are so excited about it. We are hoping to launch ‘Keighley Clay for Philip Clay Designs LTD’ later this year.
If you could make one pledge towards sustainability, what would it be?
As we are currently looking at how we will package and post our cushions, sustainability is at the forefront of my mind and we are making sure it is all recyclable.
If we could grant you one wish, what would it be?
Hmmmm...that is so hard! I have so many wishes for us! I guess the most important one is that we just keep loving and enjoying what we are doing.
What’s your favourite day of the week and why? I love Mondays and Fridays. Monday because it means I can carry on pushing towards our dream/work on whatever exciting freelance project I am doing - I love not having that counting down to the weekend feeling. And Fridays because time out is so important, especially when working with your husband! Weekdays are work 24/7 and the weekend gives us a little bit of space to just be us (and try our very best not to talk about work!)
What advice would you give to a new designer? Go out and be inspired, its so important! And original artwork is key, it's what will get you noticed and make you stand out from the crowd.
Where can our readers buy your Products? Watch this space!
To Buy Designs or Commission Keighley Clay, visit the Design Directory:
To Join the Design Directory email info@texintel.com
Colour Is Too Important to Leave to Chance
Print will always be the part of the garment people see first.
But the sum of all parts — the fabric, the trims, the fasteners, the finish — is what determines whether a design actually delivers on its promise. Brands that continue to treat colour as a single creative decision, rather than a coordinated technical discipline spanning their entire supply chain, will keep paying for it in re-dips, delays, and disappointed design teams.
A Century of Textiles, and an Ever-changing World
Few companies can trace their roots back more than a century and still count themselves among their industry's innovators. Texia, headquartered in Monistrol de Montserrat, Spain, is one of them.
But the story of Texia is not simply one of longevity.
It is a story of continual reinvention. As the textile industry has grown more global and competitive, Texia has repeatedly reshaped its business, investing in technology, developing its own brands, and placing sustainability at the centre of its mission. In doing so, it offers a compelling example of how a heritage manufacturer can lead rather than follow through a period of profound industry change. Image Credit: Texia
What are we craving Ultimately?
The instinct to slow down while simultaneously optimising every measurable aspect of life isn't a passing curiosity. It's a structural response to a world that feels increasingly unstable, and it's reshaping what people expect from their homes, hotels, workplaces and healthcare environments alike.
For the design and manufacturing sectors, this means rethinking both product and process.
The Structual Shift is Real and its Already Here
Volumes are moving east, where digital production is accelerating rapidly. Consumer behaviour has shifted.
Demand is now driven by personalisation, shorter buying cycles, and an expectation of near-instant responsiveness. Regulatory pressure is intensifying, with supply chain transparency now a legal and commercial fact in many markets. And margins? They are under sustained, structural pressure.
This is not a temporary disruption. It is a fundamental reordering of how textile manufacturing must operate.
The Challenge: Standing Firm as the Industry Shifts
The wallpaper landscape has changed dramatically. Digital printing has lowered the barrier to entry, spawning countless direct-to-consumer brands and pushing much of the market towards faster, cheaper production.
At the same time, manufacturing in the UK has grown steadily harder - rising minimum wage, national insurance, energy and substrate costs all bear down on margins. Surface Print have embraced all of these challenges - and stand resolutely prepared for the future.
From Helsinki's printing mill to Paris's Le Marais, discover how Marimekko is scaling a design-led brand with purpose, craft, and bold innovation.
But what makes Marimekko's story compelling is not just its aesthetic legacy?
The word "toxic" carries weight. It conjures danger, harm, and things best avoided.
“Yet in the textile industry - Where between 3,000 and 10,000 chemicals move through the supply chain, a reflexive fear of the term is one of our biggest obstacles to progress.”
This article distils the key takeaways and what buyers, designers, and brands should be asking right now.
What Is the Digital Product Passport?
At its core, a Digital Product Passport is a digital record attached to a physical product - For a printed textile product, this means the DPP would capture data on the substrate, inks and dyes used, the printing process and technology, chemical compliance, environmental impact (including water and energy use), supply chain traceability, and end-of-life instructions.
The Market Gap that Changed Everything
Future Fashion was founded in 2019, timed deliberately to coincide with a pivotal moment in global textile technology: the commercial launch of the EFI Reggiani BOLT Single-Pass digital printing system.
The founders recognised that single-pass architecture had fundamentally changed what was industrially possible - and that Pakistan's domestic market had yet to catch up.
Print is no longer defined by the inefficiencies that once characterised it…as advances in production processes and technology have significantly improved its environmental performance.
Taran Rai, Corporate Sustainability Manager at Epson explains why?
The story of what happens when young designers access digital technology is still being written.
What once was a theoretical sustainability goal seems to have shifted into an active regulatory reality.
Is the Textile Market Finally Recovering?
After a difficult few years, there are genuine reasons for optimism. Duncan was candid about the challenges: "The market for textiles has been very difficult over the last three years. I'm not going to hide the truth there. But the tide is turning.“
A profound shift is currently reshaping the sector
Changing consumer expectations demand greater design diversity, faster turnaround times, and sustainable manufacturing practices.
To thrive, interior brands must adapt their supply chains, bringing production closer to the end consumer and moving away from bulk manufacturing.
Digital textile printing offers a definitive solution to these operational bottlenecks.
Digital transformation doesn't announce itself.
It accumulates - one innovation at a time - until an entire industry looks back and realises the ground has shifted beneath its feet. That's precisely where textiles stands today.
The conversations happening now about AI, automation, sustainability, and digital product passports are not theoretical. They are shaping decisions being made on factory floors and in boardrooms right now.
“By leveraging advanced digital textile printing, Marylene Madou has successfully merged traditional craftsmanship with cutting-edge technology. Her approach offers a blueprint for how independent designers can scale their brands globally while maintaining a minimal environmental footprint.”
The textile industry is undergoing a vital transformation. As the insights from Techtextil and Texprocess reveal, the path forward relies on a combination of sustainable hardware, intelligent chemistry, and seamless digital workflows.
From Zimmer's industrial-scale energy reductions and Stratasys's on-demand 3D embellishments, to Kornit's single-step technical printing and the unified digital ecosystems of NedGraphics and Optitex, the tools for change are here. To stay competitive, brands and manufacturers must adopt these innovations, moving away from fragmented, wasteful processes towards a truly connected, circular economy.
Friedmans stands as a testament to the power of combining traditional textile knowledge with forward-thinking innovation.
“Operating from their UK headquarters, Friedmans now serves a diverse array of sectors, including swimwear, dance, entertainment, sportswear, interior decor, prosthetics, and even pet apparel. With a strategic supply chain that reliably serves clients worldwide”
The apparel decoration industry is decisively moving away from isolated, analogue production tools toward connected digital manufacturing environments.
"Kornit’s unwavering commitment to transformative technology continues to disrupt the status quo. For business leaders and innovators ready to capture the future of apparel manufacturing, the path forward is clear”
The Urgent Need for Sustainability at Scale
The transformation at Coats provides a vital blueprint for the wider textile and apparel sector. True sustainability cannot be achieved in silos. As Dearing emphasised:
“Cross-industry collaboration is the engine of meaningful change. Brands, machinery suppliers, chemical providers, and fibre producers must act as an interconnected ecosystem”
Today’s customers demand superior product quality, real-time data visibility, and lightning-fast turnaround times.
For large-scale garment decorators, managing these expectations while balancing seasonal demand fluctuations - such as the massive surges seen during Black Friday - presents a monumental challenge.
"Relying on transactional vendor relationships and outdated legacy equipment is no longer sufficient to secure long-term stability and growth.”
Printing method is never a secondary detail. It shapes the entire life cycle of a product, from concept to customer. In today’s fashion industry, where margins are tighter and speed matters more than ever, technical knowledge has become a competitive advantage.
“The future of textile design belongs to professionals who can combine creativity with execution, aesthetics with practicality, and vision with production reality”.