“Much missed by the design community, the show finally returned to full power for January 2023. Paris Deco-Off is a unique show and it presents an unrivalled opportunity to meet with the trade, to browse interior furnishing collections and to explore new products and materials - predominately textiles and wallcoverings, presented by established trade brands across Europe.” Debbie McKeegan - FESPA Textile Ambassador

“Japanese designer Yuima Nakazato chose Paris to launch his latest collection for Spring/Summer 2023. The launch highlights Nakazato’s vision for the Fashion Industry and in partnership with Epson, he once again utilised the latest innovations and technologies to manufacture his ground-breaking fashion collections.”

“The digitisation of the Interior decoration industry is advancing in line with key market trends across the sector. As the supply chain flexes and shifts to meet a new manufacturing paradigm for decoration – that is: business models that deliver creativity, stability and agile fulfilment. The interiors industry is shifting to on-demand production and offers the print industry a viable and expanding opportunity.”

“Greenwashing has become commonplace worldwide, in a spurious attempt to make products appear environmentally friendly, without meaningfully reducing their environmental impact. Companies large and small are affected. Often unknowingly. Sustainability is now often used to leverage sales as the demand for eco-friendly products increases. As a result, the consumer is bombarded with a plethora of unsubstantiated claims and marketing statements of dubious origin.”

“Ram has served the garment industry for many decades, with an extensive knowledge and manufacturing history characterized by one word - disruptive. His vision and philosophy are ingrained in Tukatech, the fashion technology solutions company that Ram Sareen founded in 1995. Tukatech is credited with successfully bringing digital pattern making to dozens of countries and they are an innovative leader in virtual sample making, design and fit with real time motion simulation.”

“Paolo Crespi’s journey to Epson Italia began in 1998 when Robustelli and For.tex asked Epson, Japan to support their technology. The first Monalisa machine was launched in Italy, in Como and was the first industrial unit in the field. Now some 25 years later, digital textile printing within the Como district, provides over 80% of printed fabric by volume using Epson PrecisionCore digital advanced technology”.

“The global digital textile printing sector is expected to reach USD 6.65 billion by 2030 [Research and Markets]. Market conditions have also presented new opportunities. Across all markets, on all continents, reshoring has accelerated. This generated new business for the textile printing industry, whilst also accelerating investment and the emergence of new on-demand print businesses.” - FESPA Textile Ambassador

"The awards are intended to help young, enthusiastic designers get their work to the attention of a larger audience. We saw last year how well that worked. At the same time, we want to introduce the next generation of fashion designers to a sustainable, small-scale and on-demand way of printing fabrics." The award winner will receive an Epson SureColor SC-F500 dye sublimation printer as a gift enabling them to take control of their own creativity and to explore printed production in-house and grow their design brand organically.

“We all have a role to play, whether we are suppliers, manufacturers, brands, associations, journalists, consumers or upstart companies looking to make dramatic changes. So the question for you, dear reader, is: What’s in your closet?” - Writes Cary Sherburne - WhatTheyThink

“Responsibly sourced and sustainable materials remain in short supply globally, and the textile industry cannot yet generate (or recycle) the volume required by the global supply chain across multiple market sectors. Whilst the fashion Industry is often in the spotlight, all textiles must become circular in the long term.” Debbie McKeegan - FESPA Textile Ambassador

In this guest blog post written by Phil McMullin of Epson UK explores the benefits and opportunities of the SureColor R5000 “Everybody is looking for something different. Something exclusive. Something that is added value. Customisation and personalisation with digitally printed wallpaper, that makes short print runs and print on demand economic and viable, can deliver this. The result is the creation of the perfect environment for market growth in both decorative wallpaper and functional advertising. I discussed the opportunities and growth markets more here”

“The A/W season also marks a return to “back to business” as usual, but with an accelerated appetite for new tech and sustainable solutions. With heightened market demand for flexible production, in challenging environmental and economic circumstances, nobody can pretend that the industry is thriving - its evolving.

All issues regarding sustainability have leaped into sharp focus – the spotlight is on the supply chain and how it utilises technology to deliver - environmental progress and efficient manufacturing solutions.”

The Designer brand exists in many forms across the apparel landscape (online and off) from couture garments to streetwear, sportswear and accessories. Print on Demand using digital ink jet technologies has unlocked the fashion sector to facilitate small scale personalised manufacturing. The availability of printed fabric, customised to meet your garment specifications – pattern, print and fabric type now enables independent fashion brands to flourish, online and off.”

Aquario Textile Designer plugin is an essential tool for the surface pattern community. The plugin allows the creative to design and prepare production-ready artwork in real time with absolute creative control. Wherever you reside in the supply chain, be that at origination or production, Aquario offers a valuable and affordable bundle of tools with which to improve creative function.

Specialist areas are a focus, and the business has grown to support a diverse portfolio: Retail, Signage, Events, Construction, Corporate Infrastructure, Fleet Livery, Luxury brands and the Advertising industry across a wide spread of market sectors and products. The business and the team have onboarded a deep knowledge of each of these sectors and the compliance and product specifications required. Whilst constantly keeping an eye on new technologies, materials and their potential applications.

In this video series, Debbie McKeegan, British textile designer and CEO of Texintel, meets with industry experts to explore the Epson SureColor SC-R5000 printer series to discover how this technology meets the industries demand for environmentally friendly printed production using water-based resin inks.

“We are Caspar Microfactory, a part of the Grafko-Caspar company established in 2001 by an expert in digital textile printing, Damir Hižak. Our company is in the small town of Varaždin, in the north of Croatia. Caspar operates as a separate brand that uses technology and digital innovation to provide every interested creative with the opportunity to personalize their own fabric and products. We strive to reduce textile waste during our production process and to produce our products as eco-friendly and ethically acceptable.” CASPAR - Digital Textile Printing

Following on from its immediate success last year, the GREEN GRADS story continues to build momentum as the team work diligently to deliver an evolving platform for innovative, sustainable product design. The platform is the brainchild of Barbara Chandler, a renown journalist and lifelong champion of the creative community. For many decades she has supported, encouraged and nurtured design talent. - Debbie McKeegan FESPA Textile Ambassador

“With energy costs rising at a rapid pace, simply staying in business whilst retaining established profit margins is a priority for many textile manufacturers and suppliers. It’s a tough time, and this cannot be sugar coated. In the front-line are the suppliers who must continually flex their supply chains to maintain product continuity, they must also continually evaluate raw materials and production costs to ensure that profits are maintained. The cost of components whether chemicals, dyes, fibres, materials or machine parts now fluctuates on a daily basis.” Debbie McKeegan - FESPA Textile Ambassador

“I’ve always wanted to combine different print techniques, so this was a perfect opportunity to start doing this. I think the printed fabrics produced by Epson last year where really beautiful and beyond my expectations, I loved the quality of the printed colours. I was very honoured to have won the dye-sublimation printer, the Epson Design Awards, and to be able to start exploring the possibilities with digital textile printing.” commented Sophie Wantia.