Print Make Wear, the new fast fashion factory experience created within FESPA Global Print Expo 2018 in Berlin, added a colourful and educational visitor feature to the event, addressing the rising interest in garment production and printing within FESPA’s global community.
467 individual delegates registered specifically for Print Make Wear. They were joined by the 17 percent of visitors to the wider FESPA event who came with a specific interest in garment decoration and/or manufacturing, and who visited the Print Make Wear area, as well as more than 2,000 visitors who took advantage of the expert-guided feature tours.
Technology investment was high on the agenda of visitors to Print Make Wear, with more than half planning to invest within six months, supported by average investment budgets of over Euros 180,000. The audience comprised 90 percent senior managers, with 76 percent of visitors having purchasing authority.
Many prominent sportswear, clothing and promotional apparel brands were represented among the delegates, with visitors typically occupying business, manufacturing, product development and technical roles. Their feedback shows that Print Make Wear at FESPA 2018 was viewed as an opportunity to update industry knowledge in the areas of increased efficiency and sustainability, workflow and technology and evaluate equipment and technology to inform future investment.
Consistent with the FESPA event as a whole, the leading countries in terms of attendance at Print Make Wear were Germany and the UK. Substantial groups also participated from Poland, Spain, Turkey, Italy, Romania, the Russian Federation and Hungary, reflecting the significance of the garment sector in these countries.
Print Make Wear is the latest addition to FESPA’s visitor offering around textile printing, which is a focus area for 34 percent of the 20,442 visitors to FESPA Global Print Expo. The FESPA 2018 Print Census, a worldwide survey of over 1,400 service providers published during FESPA 2018, explores many aspects of textile and garment printing. The survey highlights sports apparel and fast fashion as two major growth applications, and emphasises growing adoption of digital printing technology in response to requirements for faster time to market, small batch production, economical prototyping and customisation.
56 percent of FESPA Print Census respondents active in textile printing have invested in digital printing technology, with 19 percent planning to do so in the next two years. Productivity is the major investment driver for 69 percent of textile respondents, while more than half are looking to print directly onto untreated materials.
Head of Events at FESPA Duncan MacOwan commented: “Our research shows that, while the garment sector has been slower than other speciality print segments to transition to digital production, this is changing, driven by brand owner demand for streamlined production in the interests of reduced waste along the supply chain and increased flexibility to seasonal and local demand. Just as FESPA has supported graphics producers to evolve and adapt, with Print Make Wear we are now giving this focus to garment producers and printers and other businesses considering enhancing their fashion textile print offering.”
Based on the positive response to the first edition, Print Make Wear will be a feature at regional FESPA events and the FESPA Global Print Expo 2019, which takes place from 14th to 17th May 2019 at Messe Munich, Germany. |
