THE WEEKLY THREAD: SPEED X SUSTAINABILITY = THE DIGITAL IMPERATIVE
“From design through to all aspects of production there is a digital alternative...and a digital imperative. The innovations within our industry are many and varied, so let’s make the leap - take back control of our supply chain and prepare for a new future using digital manufacturing and work hard to deliver a sustainable future together!’ - Debbie McKeegan
Much has changed over the last few months - or so it seems? Can we now move to deliver a sustainable future?
If we are to manufacture at speed, reduce waste and deliver just in time then we have to move fast and adopt digital technologies. Manufacturing soley using manual process does not address the textile industry’s requirement for change - product diversity at any scale. Simply put - we need an new generation of agile manufacturing that can flex and adapt to deliver product on demand.
That doesn’t mean that analogue technologies are defunct - we need a new layer of production that can react at speed and on demand to enable a new buying strategy that encompasses singular or dual sourcing.
Large volume production often has an equally large supply chain - this only becomes unsustainable when supply (inventory) exceeds demand - or the technologies and components utilised are incorrectly sourced (not of sustainable origin) - there are many sustainable economies in large scale production. Manufacturing at high volume using clean technologies and components is viable.
Dual sourcing between digital and analogue offers a halfway house, it gives the retailer supply chain security whilst also allowing complete control of inventory. Inventory therefore can be managed and replenished at any scale, reducing waste and improving the products sustainability credentials.
It’s too early to predict the Apparel Industries appetite for change?
Some predict sustainability will rise to the top of the consumers agenda, and it may very well do so? But will the industry listen - can it pivot and make the seismic switch to a sustainable future? Some think not. As the industry grapples with lost revenue and swings to recover lost profits, can the supply chain afford to adopt or even ignore a sustainable future? Some things never change - the pursuit of profits - and it’s here that hope remains?
If the Fashion Industry is to remain viable it has to stop producing waste - waste is lost profits. Designers, creatives, suppliers and manufacturers all want change, the consumer wants change and the planet demands change! In order to make the switch, there has to be a new tier within the supply chain…and that presents a myriad of opportunity for the digital print community - and the upstream manufacturer.
Over the last few weeks i’ve been invited to join a number of discussions orbiting this topic;
Technology holds the power to take back control and but the brakes on the last two decades of overconsumption.
One thing is for sure, sustainability is a global responsibility and only by working in collaboration can we address change and create a sustainable future.
Circumstance accelerates Change
This years catwalks were virtual, the jury is out on the industry's reaction to what was the only option in the current pandemic. Speaking for myself we are not there yet - Fashion must inspire and the catwalks from Milan, London and Paris were most definitely short of inspiration. Here the creative must take back control and in tandem with tech (from the gaming industry) develop a new platform to generate synthetic theatre that delivers a new hybrid reality.
Unleash the digital creative
Whilst virtual offers a temporary fix for the fashion industry and for this seasons apparel collections - Its power is best leveraged when utilised in e-commerce where virtual works very well. The transaction is about product, the digital twin, on-demand sales and customised production. As the ecommerce sector accelerates during the pandemic - witnessing 10 years growth in just 3 months [source McKinsey and company] - Software has a vital role to play.
Online customisation, 3D avatars and personalised shopping experiences are now the new normal.
This sector is expected to see significant growth over the next few years. Neiman Marcus launched a new virtual shopping app at the beginning of the pandemic. Launched ahead of schedule and as a direct impact of the virus, the app secured 20% of all online sales during the crisis. The app connects the client to the retailer, to enable a personalised shopping experience. Data mined from the customers browsing habits is analysed electronically to deliver product suggestions inline with the visitors expectations and style. Going further to also offer a digital (but human) shopping stylist, who then communicates through the customers preferred channels, email, text, whatsapp, wechat etc. Social engagement is a ongoing development of the social retail phenomena and creates a new chapter for ecommerce - social currency.
Behind each and every online or offline product is a lengthy supply chain. Controlling that supply chain is the key to sustainability.
We must start at the beginning - Design products that are inherently sustainable and create them using sustainable components and only then manufacture in tandem with green technologies and an environmental commitment.
Let’s stop designing and manufacturing waste - and switch to on demand digital or hybrid production and reduce the industries carbon footprint further by manufacturing closer to the consumer.
Leverage software to control and communicate the design process - embed production data - in a cloud based platform where all suppliers have access to transparent information.
Let’s get to know our suppliers better?
Shorten the supply chain and insist on the use of sustainable technologies. Traceability is equally important if we are to reduce greenwashing and validate the production process to deliver an eco-friendly product to the consumer.
From design through to all aspects of textile production there is now a digital alternative....and a digital imperative - the innovations within our industry are many and varied, so let’s make the leap, take back control of our supply chain and prepare for a new future using digital manufacturing and work hard to deliver a sustainable future together!…
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”.
Durst develops and markets advanced solutions for digital production, automation, and intelligent manufacturing across industrial applications worldwide.
Roland inkjet printers and printer/cutters are widely used in a variety of visual communication fields, including signage and interior decoration.
The leading manufacturer of digital and screen-printing machinery, coating, steaming and drying systems for textile and carpet processing
EFI Reggiani has become the trusted partner for integrated, scalable solutions for the entire textile process – from yarn treatment to fabric printing and finishing.
Epson industrial digital workflow for textile printing, from technology to inks, from pre- to post-treatment and learn about Epson Textile Solution Center.
Resolute isn't just a DTF printer and supply company, they are innovators in the field, shaping the future of textile decoration with innovative DTF solutions.
As the exclusive UK & Ireland distributor for Mimaki Engineering; its industry-leading product range that comprises solvent, LED UV, 3D, dye sublimation and textile inkjet printers, cutters, inks, software.
At Agfa, we believe in print as an essential and powerful medium of communication. Our mission is to enable printing businesses to achieve profitable growth.
Brother has a comprehensive range of solutions in the areas of direct-to-garment printing - from mass production to smaller printers for customisation.
VeriVide are the light and colour experts. UK based but global specialist in the design, development and manufacture of standardised lighting cabinets & digital imaging systems (DigiEye).
Since 1986, our aim has always been the same, to add value beyond print - to create cutting-edge laminating and print finishing equipment of the highest quality.
Kornit’s innovative printing technology enables businesses to succeed in web-to-print, on-demand and mass customization concepts.
Imagine a production process where 2D sewing and cutting happen in one seamless, automated operation - no manual handling required.
Award winning supplier wide range of Printers, Finishing Equipment, Inks & Media, RIP & Colour Management Solutions and Warranty & Service Support.
Soyang Hardware offers leading edge wide and superwide format print production hardware solutions from many of the industry’s biggest and best-known printer brands..
Klieverik is a leading manufacturer of rotary thermo-processing equipment, specialising in advanced textile applications.
With Barbieri, digital textile printers achieve professional ICC profiling, calibration, and quality control - leading to enhanced color consistency and confidence across all materials.
At China Print Supplies Ltd, we are more than just a distributor - we are your strategic partner in print solutions. With a commitment to excellence and a passion for innovation
A key supplier of dye-sublimation printing equipment, consumables, and support services to a diverse range of customers across the United Kingdom.