Kyocera Document Solutions has provided Japanese fashion brand Telma with fabrics printed with its environmentally friendly inkjet textile printer Forearth and presented at the Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo. The fabrics were presented at the Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo.
On Monday, 2 September, Telma held its first runway-style show in Tokyo, and fabric for one third of the total 40 looks was printed with the Kyocera Document Solutions’ Forearth.
Telma designer Terumasa Nakajima, who has a passion for textiles, focused on printing on acetate fabric as one of his specialties for this show. Acetate is a semi-synthetic fabric made mainly from wood pulp, and is often used for scarves and skirts because of its beautiful silk-like luster and drape, as well as its fluffy elasticity.
However, in conventional dyeing of acetate, it is difficult to control temperature and time in the dyeing process because the fabric is sensitive to heat, and problems such as poor coloration and uneven coloration occur due to the non-uniform particle size and dispersion of the dye.
On the other hand, the pigments used in Forearth do not require processing at high temperatures, making them suitable for the heat-sensitive properties of acetate, and they also produce vivid colours, solving issues such as color reproduction and color uniformity.
10 different designs are printed on 6 types of fabrics (acetate, rayon-polyester blend, silk chiffon, polyester chiffon, polyester satin, and nylon organ.
Terumasa Nakajima said, This is the first time for me to present my collection in Tokyo in the form of a runway, and I wanted the presentation to be like an introduction of myself. I graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, Belgium, and started my career with the fashion brand Dries Van Noten (Belgium). With this aspect in mind, I decided on the concept of mixing Western and Eastern aesthetics to create something by the handiwork of people that Japan is proud of.
Until now, printing on acetate fabrics requires processing at high temperatures to achieve solid coloration, making it impossible to use the fabrics even if we wanted to. This time, when we saw the acetate fabric printed by Forearth, we were very surprised. I was impressed by the potential of the acetate fabrics, not only in terms of their excellent coloring but also in terms of their texture. I felt the potential of Forearth in the fact that it can be used with any material, including silk and polyester, which had been considered difficult until now, and I felt that it could transcend the barriers of design.
I was also very sympathetic to the environmental friendliness of the product. I was impressed by Forearth’s technological innovations that combine sustainability and quality, such as reducing water use by 99% compared to conventional methods. We produced 40 costumes this time, and were impressed by Forearth’s ability to quickly print a wide variety of designs on a wide variety of fabrics, which gave us a sense of Forearth’s mobility.
I believe that Forearth’s advanced, environmentally friendly printing technology will be very useful in the apparel industry in the future. While conventional technologies have had problems with texture and limitations in processing, Forearth has established a high level of quality based on the premise that people will wear it, and I sensed a great deal of potential for the future.”
Kyocera Document Solutions Europe Management B.V. is a group company of Kyocera Document Solutions Inc., a global leading provider of total document solutions based in Osaka, Japan. The company’s portfolio includes reliable and eco-friendly MFPs and printers, as well as business applications and consultative services.
