Young and emerging textile designers learned about direct-to-film (DTF) and direct-to-garment (DTG) printing as part of a day of workshops and presentations run by technology specialist Epson.
It hosted its second Textile Academy event yesterday at its Textile Innovation Centre in Lutterworth in Leicestershire, welcoming textile design BA students from Nottingham Trent University and Loughborough University.
The event featured workshops designed to enhance student’s practical textile printing skills as well as corporate and entrepreneurial business acumen, marketing and self-branding, and environmental awareness around the textile industry.
To show students how easy and sustainable the fashion supply chain can be with on-demand textile printing, they took part in a “no-sew” dress workshop – new to Epson’s Textile Academy and inspired by the viral “no-sew” dress social media trend.
The students printed, cut and modelled their own designs into simple dresses using dye-sublimation printing. A winner was chosen by guest speaker AJ Weir, designer for print and textile ready-to-wear (RTW) at fashion company Burberry.
The prize of an Epson A4 dye-sublimation printer was presented to Roisin Allen, a fashion design and technology student at Loughborough University.
The students were also invited to “bring your own garment” (BYOG) to explore how DTF printing could be used to upcycle garments, give clothes a second lease on life and commercialise sustainable production. The event also covered DTG printing.
Pictured: Students at Epson’s Textile Academy take part in a “no-sew” dress workshop
AJ shared his career experience in textile design and the journey toward sustainable, circular production. He also provided guidance on career pathways in the industry, inspiring students to explore how digital textile printing can open opportunities for creativity, innovation and sustainability.
The Epson Textile Academy also brought to life issues around sustainability with business and sustainability experts from Epson and textile print wholesaler Prinfab.
Taran Rai, corporate sustainability manager at Epson UK, said: “There is a lot of negative rhetoric around the sustainability of the fashion and textiles industry, but already so many in the space are innovating solutions that will transform how we buy our garments.
“Today we not only educated students on the environmental benefits of on-demand digital textile printing as a possible solution but showed how they can leverage this and other circular economy practices as they prepare to embark on their careers.”
Duncan Ferguson, managing director at Epson UK and vice president for commercial and industrial at Epson Europe, added: “The Textile Academy is about more than technology – it’s about sparking curiosity, nurturing creativity and showing students the real-world potential of digital textile printing.
“Seeing them engage with the technology, experiment with design and learn how sustainability and innovation go hand in hand is exactly why we created the academy. It’s incredibly rewarding to help shape the next generation of designers and innovators.”
The students at yesterday’s event included Ashley Hancox, who is studying for a BA in textiles at Loughborough University. She said: “The day has been very informative and eye-opening. We have explored a variety of print processes and learnt more about the sustainability challenges within the textiles industry.
“We are usually only exposed to dye sublimation printing so it’s been great to learn how direct-to-garment and direct-to-film printing techniques can be utilised.
“It’s so important for students to have access to events like today because it shows them the available options, from running your own business or the path to design houses through printing.”
