“When we started to sell the first machines into the major printing companies in Como in 2003 - the industry was not convinced and did not believe in the future benefits of digital printing. But slowly, slowly the industry started to believe in the application of the technology. By 2011 – We had over 100 Monna Lisa machines in the market.”
Sandro Robustelli - EPSON
WRITTEN BY FESPA TEXTILE AMBASSADOR DEBBIE MCKEEGAN
The Robustelli family have an esteemed reputation within the textile industry. The production machinery that they manufacture underpins high-quality textile printing installations across the globe.
As a family business that was founded in Italy, almost 72 years ago, the company and their experienced engineering team have an inherent knowledge of the textile industry. How the sector has evolved, and how to fine-tune the many layers of ancillary machinery and engineering required, to create a high-quality textile printing mill.
With a deep technical knowledge of the textile manufacturing process, and its nuances, Robustelli foresaw the adoption of digital printing equipment almost two decades ago.
Operating in Como, in the heart of the Italian textile district, Robustelli are located in a world renown area, at the epicenter of luxury printed textile production.
It is with this knowledge and understanding that the Robustelli family began their journey to a digital future. Today the Como district manufactures over 80% of its printed production using digital technologies. Much of which is produced using the Epson Monna Lisa series, pioneered by Robustelli in collaboration with Epson technology. Over the years this remarkable partnership has also evolved, with Epson purchasing Robustelli in 2016.
As the adoption of digital textile printing advances, and industrial digital textile production (which now surpasses over 3 billion metres per year) grows at an accelerating rate - we look back on the Robustelli journey in this interview with Sandro Robustelli.
“Robustelli was founded by my father and his two brothers in 1950. My father originally began his engineering business producing parts and accessory for machine tools in particular precision grinding machine. But because he was located in Como, in the textile area, he saw an opportunity and started to produce printing equipment, rotary printing machinery and flatbed printing tables. He began with hand printing carriage’s and then progressed on to develop automatic machinery. To support the industry, my father also developed and sold engraving machinery for rotary and flatbed production”.
“Then in 1995/2000 we began to explore the market and the application of digital ink jet technology – which was very new. At this that time, myself and my brother already worked in the company, as the second generation. We decided to begin the development and the manufacture of digital textile equipment, for digitally printing direct on the fabric. But this was not easy, because we didn’t have the complete technology. But we immediately focused our attention to Epson because with Epson we knew that they had a leading print head technology for printing directly onto fabric”.
“We already had a good working relationship with German company using wax jet technologies for some time in our engraving and traditional printing systems. We had the first contact with Epson in Japan in 2001. And we were very lucky, that the company believed in us -immediately we started this cooperation. In 2003 we presented the Monna Lisa”
“The Monna Lisa machine was designed and built, almost 20 years ago, and was the first real industrial digital textile printing machine. Before the Monna Lisa other machines on the market were developed by modifying the large format graphic plotter”.
“With our extensive knowledge and textile provenance we adapted and modified to add the required technology, specific to high volume textile production. As technology has advanced further over the last 20 years, the Monna Lisa has developed into a high quality, industrial digital textile printing solution”.
“When we started to sell the first machines into the major printing companies in Como in 2003 - the industry was not convinced and did not believe in the future benefits of digital printing. But slowly, slowly the industry started to believe in the application of the technology. By 2011 – We had over 100 Monna Lisa machines in the market.”
“Our research and development continues with the support of Epson’s global team”.
“Whilst also paying important attention to the environmental impact of our technology and its application. One of the big advantages of digital textile printing is that it saves water, energy and manufacturing space when compared directly to traditional printing. We continually improve the Monna Lisa series - as Epson produce new heads, we upgrade the machinery.”
“In 2008, research carried out by Carlo Cattaneo University LIUC in Varese, confirmed that we save more than 40% of water and 75% of energy when printing textiles using the Monna Lisa. In 2009 we won the Ecohitech award for saving energy. Then in 2014 we upgraded the heads again and updated to the Monna Lisa EVO2 to further improve the use of energy”.
“With the support of Epson and For.tex, the Textile Solution Center was inaugurated in 2014 and it’s here where we continue to invest in the research and the continued development of the Monna Lisa series.”
“In 2016 when Epson made the acquisition of Robustelli, this was painful because Robustelli was a family business, with three generations employed - it was our life”.
“It wasn’t an easy decision. But we also saw the opportunity to change our company from a family business, that worked mostly in Italy and Europe, to become a multinational entity. That vision, to become global, as a family we could not reach, and we decided to accept the offer from Epson, and we sold the company. This is the short story for our company. And now, 5 years later, we are very satisfied that we made the right decision. And we hope that the story will continue forever...”
“My future in the company will be very short. One day I will retire, I keep promising to do so - but I still work. The future is for my son Paolo and my hope is that he will continue to work in the company, which my father began as I said earlier, over 70 years ago.”
“I had a vision to transform the manufacturing technology of textile printing, and I look forward to Paolo taking over the reins and continuing our families work…”
Balrothery, Ireland – October 2026 – Retink Graphics has added a second Epson SureColor R5000L latex printer to its Balrothery production floor, supplied by digitalprint.ie.
The investment follows strong returns from the company's first R5000L, which the team says paid for itself before they decided to expand.
Milan, Italy – October 2026– Epson will present its latest advancements in signage, UV printing and textile customisation at VISCOM 2026, taking place at Allianz MiCo Milan on 28-29 October.
Visitors can find Epson at Gate 3, Stand G14, where the company's specialists will demonstrate how its newest technologies are helping businesses expand into high-value applications through superior print quality and precise colour management.
As visual communication and personalisation markets continue to evolve at pace, Epson is positioning itself at the forefront of that change.
October 2026 – Epson has today featured the availability of the SureColor G9000, the first high-production, roll-to-roll Direct-To-Film (DTFilm) printer in its line-up.
Designed for commercial garment decorators and textile producers, the new printer addresses the industry's growing demand for greater speed, reliability and reduced hands-on maintenance, whatever the production environment.
The SureColor G9000 is built around a complete Epson ecosystem, combining Epson inks, printheads and software with Epson EdgePrint or Fiery Digital Factory RIPs
Watford = Hertfordshire- October – 2026 – Epson has announced that selected SureColor printers and inks are now covered by the 3M™ MCS™ Warranty, marking a significant step forward in the company's ongoing commitment to delivering durable, high-performance graphics solutions.
The certification reinforces the longstanding relationship between Epson and 3M, and underscores both companies' shared dedication to quality and innovation in the graphics industry.
Konica Minolta Business Solutions (UK) Ltd has reinforced its two‑ decade partnership with Epson by expanding the range of Epson wide format print technologies now available for live demonstration at its UK Client Engagement Centre (CEC) in Dunstable.
The move reflects Konica Minolta’s commitment to supporting the UK commercial print sector with a broader, more versatile portfolio and giving customers hands‑on access to leading solutions.
Colour Separation: The Craft Digital Textile Design Shouldn’t Forget
Textile designer Stephan Alker draws on more than 40 years in the industry, going back to his start at Transfertex in 1980, to trace how colour separation moved from drum scanners, hand-retouched films and engraved gravure cylinders to fully digital workflows.
He argues that this production knowledge still matters in the age of digital printing, because properly separated designs give brands far more freedom.
The Path Foward: Connect Every Link:
Design, colour, workflow, production, data. Each link now depends on the one before it, and the printers who will lead the market are those who strengthen the whole chain, not just the machinery at its centre.
So, this autumn, ask the bigger question on your own shop floor.
Not "Which printer?" but "How well does my business connect demand, design and production?"
Rebés's story isn't one of nostalgia - It's a working blueprint for how heritage manufacturers can stay indispensable in a market that rewards speed, certification, and specificity in equal measure. Four million metres of stock mean nothing without the digital printing capability to turn it into something distinctive.
A 150-year name means nothing without the R&D discipline to win a tender for antistatic, carbon-fibre-infused uniform fabric on the first attempt.
Image Credit: Tejidos Rebé
What if the next dress you wore never touched the factory floor?
This is no longer a fringe experiment. It is a maturing production model, backed by genuine material science, real circularity, and an AI-assisted workflow that is becoming more accessible by the month.
Her advice to designers and brands alike is refreshingly practical: start small, get hands-on with an accessible 3D printer, and build fluency before the technology becomes table stakes. The businesses that treat this moment with curiosity, rather than scepticism, will be the ones shaping fashion's next decade rather than reacting to it.
The 2027 FESPA Awards are now open for entry, and the message to businesses across textiles, apparel, interiors and beyond is simple: your work deserves recognition. Every gold winner featured here started in the same place every entrant does - with a project they believed was worth submitting.
As the only independent awards programme with 18 categories dedicated to print and signage, FESPA offers a genuinely global stage, with shortlisted entries displayed at FESPA Global Print Expo in Spring 2027.
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.