When Frank Cannata interviewed industry friend Frank Romano on video this past spring, Romano said this:
“Anything that can go electronic will go electronic,” but he added that, from interior designers and architects to in-plant shops, “print will always be there.”
The two Franks discussed non-traditional markets, including textile printing, an inkjet technology for which my Frank began making a serious case approximately one year ago within the dealer-partner channel. Five years earlier, I had designed elegant, limited-edition scarves as gifts for guests at our 2019 Women Influencers Brunch. Produced with EFI’s Reggiani industrial digital, water-based textile printers, which are manufactured in Italy, the red-fringed silk was emblazoned with my trademark signature.
Anyway, the challenge for office technology dealerships is finding new markets, Romano noted, “which is not easy.” As paper prices rise and print volumes fall (which is nothing new, of course), the future of printing rests on anything besides paper, observed the ever-insightful Romano. Listening these men speak, I had a feeling of déjà vu.
You see, back when I designed fashionable clothes and sportswear, salespeople presented their fabric lines to us. Some of the vendors used swatch books and, for larger patterns, some brought a full yard of fabric. Technology at the time used screen printing, one repeat at a time, on a roller machine. The process was exclusive and far too expensive for most manufacturers. If orders from Italy, Spain, or other parts of Europe were large enough, designers might buy three to four yards of fabric at a time. Interior designers were familiar with the same technique, which was used to reproduce wallpaper.
This reflection brings me back to what Romano said recently about print’s future taking place on almost anything except paper. He cited personalized furnishings, such as draperies, chair coverings, and wall graphics, as prime examples.
Now, fast-forward to the more sustainable ink solution that Konica Minolta announced in Japan last month. It’s an inline pretreatment ink for reactive dyes that simplifies the workflow, enabling simultaneous printing and pretreatment in one step. Fabrics printed using this ink are far less susceptible to discoloration from storage conditions, such as temperature and humidity.
The ink is called “O‘ROBE,” which is a coined term combining “O’” and “ROBE,” the OEM explained. The “O’” carries three meanings: Optimization, One (integration), and Origin (new starting point). “ROBE,” derived from the French word for clothing or fabric, symbolizes the unification of fabric and ink.
Today’s textile printing technology can reproduce short runs much more economically, giving creative end-users remarkable flexibility whether they’re printing on cotton, polyester blends, viscose nylon, or even silk. It’s a vibrant (and affordable) new world for luxury and mass-market fashion brands, home decor companies, and textile manufacturers! As Frank points out in his article, Kyocera and Ricoh also are manufacturing textile printing machines.
Coffee with Carol
Editor’s note – A one-time Women’s Wear Daily Designer of the Month, Carol Cannata created trendy, bold-patterned designs for, among others, the English model, actress, singer, and 1960s cultural icon known as “Twiggy.” With blond hair, blue eyes, and a “Mod” (modernist) fashion style, Lesley Hornby Lawson stood 5’6” tall and weighed less than 95 pounds: hence, her nickname. As part of the British subculture, the mods rebelled against the traditions and factory-working lifestyle of their parents. Mod teens no longer needed to support the family and benefited from the revitalized economy in post-World War II England. This made them search for independence and freedom from traditional values and lifestyles.