The digital printed textile market is emerging as one of the fastest-growing and potentially most lucrative businesses for inkjet printing. Last year, EFI acquired Reggiani Macchine, an Italian manufacturer of digital textile printing equipment. Last month, Epson made its own acquisition of an Italian digital textile specialist with its purchase of Fratelli Robustelli S.r.l. 
 
Epson already has a position in the printed textile field through its SureColor F7000, SureColor F6000 and SureColor F2000 direct-to-garment dye sublimation printers. In 2015, Epson added the SureColor F9200, a 64-inch dye sublimation printer. Epson and Robustelli have long had a working relationship, and partnered on the development of the Monna Lisa.
 
By combining Epson’s manufacturing platform with Robustelli’s printing technology, particularly the Monna Lisa digital textile printer, Epson anticipates that the combination will expand its position in the digital textile space.
 
“As the market for high-quality digital textile printing expands, I believe that formalizing our partnership with Robustelli in this way puts us in a great place to meet the needs of the growing numbers of customers who are seeking to leverage the advantages of advanced digital solutions that will help drive their businesses forward,” said Sunao Murata, COO of Epson’s Professional Printing Operations Division, who is expected to become president of Robustelli.
 
Digital textile printing is already a sizable market, yet it holds less that 5% of the total printed textile business, according to most estimates. That is changing.
 
“Digital technology has changed everything it has touched, including the textile and printing markets,” said Fernando Urteaga, group manager, Professional Imaging, Epson America, Inc. “Textile printing is a $7.5 billion market and is projected to grow more than 34% worldwide, providing outstanding opportunities.”
 
Urteaga sees lots of markets where digital textile printing is ideal, including apparel and signage.
 
“Digital printing of textiles is being seen everywhere from the clothing industry (including athletic apparel); home textiles (furniture, pillows, blankets); and it is slowly gaining popularity in the signage industry,” he noted. “Within the last five years, the dye-sublimation process has been successfully applied in the sportswear industry because polyester has specific qualities for high-performance garments, such as moisture dispersion.
 
“Within the high-fashion industry, Epson has left a lasting impression with our annual Digital Couture event held during NYC Fashion Week,” Urteaga added. “Fueling the future of digital printing in the textile industry, Epson’s Digital Couture is a runway experience that showcases designers’ collections using Epson’s dye-sublimation printing technology. It’s been a huge hit and showcases how technology influences the fashion industry in a tangible way.”
 
Inkjet printing of textiles offers numerous advantages to fashion designers and manufacturers alike, from the freedom to create new looks to producing customized or short-run products.
 
“Within the past decade, both direct-to-garment and dye-sublimation technology has been developed and redefined, allowing entrepreneurs and established fashion brands to print on a variety of fabrics in real-time, including cotton and synthetic fibers, for a new level of creative freedom,” Urtega said.
 
“Epson printing technologies enable endless possibilities across the fashion industry, through professional photographic printing, direct-to-garment printing, and dye-sublimation printing, obtaining original prints of the highest and unique quality and providing versatility to create designs with rich colors and fine details, similar to a photographic reproduction,” Urteaga said. “In this way, inkjet technology enables these designers to bring their creations to life using innovative materials, such as natural and synthetic fibers, with the quality that distinguishes the Epson brand.  This technology fulfills the new requirements of short run productions in the market. In addition to our product expertise, we ensure maximum uptime with our global service and support network for our customers’ peace of mind.”
 
Epson anticipates excellent growth for the digital textile printing field.
 
“We expect the digital textile printing market worldwide will grow at an annual rate of approximately 25% going forward until approximately 2019,” Urteaga observed. “The shift from analog to digital printing is accelerating in areas where mixed short-run production with a short turnaround time is required. We plan to accelerate the shift to digital by offering outstanding performance, compared to analog printing, providing a balance between productivity, price, and features. We are estimating more than 30% growth annually, which is faster than market growth, and by absorbing Robustelli’s knowledge and expertise, Epson will accelerate this shift.”