INVESTING IN HP TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN TO EXPAND INTO THE CONTRACT FURNISHING MARKETPLACE - WE TALK WITH MALLION AND KNOWLES
“We are now attracting new customers with our upholstered furnishing fabrics offer and the Mallion and Knowles collections. We now have around 35 designs, available in different colourways. All our print base textiles have been profiled and we are confident that we can reproduce designs day after day – with accurate colour consistency”. Lee Egan - Mallion & Knowles
Mallion and Knowles have invested in further HP Stitch technology to expand into the contract furnishing marketplace to offer a new designer brand.
Owned by Lee Egan and Andy Lambert, the company Mallion and Knowles now offers specialist print services for the Interior and hospitality furnishing sector using dye sublimation technology. Both founders have over 30 years’ experience in print.
As the Interior Décor sector becomes increasingly customised, Lee and Andy, saw an opportunity to expand their business beyond wide format commission printing as the contract and furnishing fabric markets flex to meet the requirement for bespoke textile design.
The hospitality and home furnishing industries are very different to wide format, where graphic design is predominant. Home furnishings and contract décor, by comparison, demand a whole host of new specifications, both in terms of design, fabrics and application to end-use. Textiles are used for drapes, window dressings, furniture and accessories. As such they demand textile print bases that are specific to the marketplace, fabrics that are tactile, with good drape and durability.
In décor design is first and foremost.
Recognising that architects, specifiers and Interior designers needed to first access good quality design, their in-house design team, led by accomplished textile designer Barry Ward began working on new designs, whilst also drawing from their extensive archive.
The print collection now encompasses over 35 patterns available for commercial use.
The archive was originally founded by Tony Hutchinson as “Charlton Fabrics” in 2015. Now rebranded as “Mallion and Knowles” this extensive archive serves as a reference library for their customers. Going further, their design studio can also adapt artwork to meet client specification: scale, colour and style. With a large selection of furnishing fabrics available, designs can be infinitely customised and custom printed to meet client specification.
Company Director Andy Lambert explained:
“Before we invested in the HP Stitch S500 we had been using the HP Stitch S1000, which is the three-metre-wide version of HPs dye sublimation printing technology for our wide format clients. We were then presented with the opportunity to buy into the contract fabric Company, Mallion and Knowles. Furnishing fabrics are generally around 1500mm wide, or less. Choosing to invest in the narrower HP Stitch S500 machine would then allow us to concentrate on this market and improve production efficiency. Whilst also giving us the opportunity for us to expand to wider contract fabric widths using the HP Stitch S1000 when required”.
MPS were introduced to the S1000 by RA smart, a company with a combined knowledge of digital textile technologies and textile printing. When looking to make a new purchase for their venture into furnishing fabrics, MPS had no hesitation in seeking their recommendations. Andy commented “We had no issues at all with the S1000. The installation and aftersales service provided by RA Smart was excellent”.
Choosing to expand their suite of HP technologies ensured that production between both machines remained seamless, therefore enabling the business to maximise workflow agility and manufacturing efficiency. “The S500 delivers - colour accuracy. We can print fabric from one year to the next. The colour is consistent throughout”.
Lee Egan commented further:
“We are now attracting new customers with our upholstered furnishing fabrics offer and the Mallion and Knowles collections. We now have around 35 designs, available in different colourways. All our print base textiles have been profiled and we are confident that we can reproduce designs day after day – with accurate colour consistency”.
“The industry that we print for expects high quality printed output. There can be no compromise on quality. As with any HP products, the ease of use and the fact that heads and ink are both replaced simultaneously, as a consumable part, allows us to keep the quality high at all times – whilst increasing our production volume”.
“We've been supported all the way through the purchase by RA Smart. They have provided excellent training and shared their textile knowledge with our team. Any other issues we've had RA Smart have dealt with impeccably.”
