New speakers provide in-depth knowledge and expertise on digital textile printing 

FESPA has announced further speakers for its Digital Textile Conference (2 October 2014, Grand Hotel Villa Torretta, Milan), to encourage printers interested in digital textile printing to explore new trends and techniques, as well as market growth areas for new business opportunities. 

The conference programme will focus on four areas of discussion; an overview of digital textile printing, interior and soft signage, apparel printing and fashion, as well as an in-depth exploration of the technologies and techniques used to deliver these applications. 

Providing an overview of digital textile printing, Ron Gilboa of US-based research company Infotrends, will discuss insights into the growth and creative development of the digital textile market, based on data collected from leading market players in digital textile inks and equipment. Ron will also examine the market drivers in digital textile printing, and where he believes the market is heading in the next five years.

Hailing from the USA, Scott Donovan, Managing Director at BleuPrint Creative brings thirty years of experience in digital textile printing to the conference. Scott will examine how fabric printing can help grow a business by looking at market analysis and exploring mass-production, to individually customised products, as well as the possibilities these can provide end users.

Professor Dr Marc Van Parys, Head of Research Laboratory TO2C, will highlight new developments in digital textile printing including recent innovations for new UV inks and lacquers tailor made for different textile applications. Egidio Fasana, Production Manager, Mascioni will be discussing a centre of excellence for digital textile printing, multi-pass vs single pass.

Looking at interior decoration and soft signage, Italian Colour Correction Guru, Marco Olivotto, will discuss colour correction for digital textile printing, including traditional correction techniques, gamut problems and how printers can get the most from digitally printed designs and patterns.

Swedish based Andreas Skantze, President of Big Image Systems, will examine his most challenging and creative case studies over his 25 years’ experience in the industry to demonstrate the potential of fabric printing.

Talking digital printing in fashion, Mark Abramson, CEO of ThinFolio, a Kickstarter funded project, will discuss the success and challenges he has faced, from the consumer, to creating print ready files and managing the production and shipment of large volume, uniquely digitally printed products.

This session will also include speeches from previously announced speakers Melanie Bowles, Senior Lecturer in Textile Design at the Chelsea College of Art and Michael Schmidt, celebrity fashion designer who incorporates 3D printing in his designs.

Duncan MacOwan, Head of Events & New Media, FESPA, adds: “The speaker lineup for the Digital Textile Conference just gets better and better. World leading experts on digital textile printing are able to combine their knowledge to provide digital textile printers with the right tools to enhance their services and increase value and quality for their customers. Milan is the epicentre of the textile industry and visitors to our exhibitions have mentioned time and again how digital textile printing has huge growth potential, with 81% of printers to our most recent World Wide Survey saying they are handling more textile work.

“We are delighted to be working in partnership with some of the leading suppliers to the digital textile printing community in delivering this year’s conference, such as MS Print Solutions, Durst, Kiian Digital, Kaspar Papir, Everlight Chemical and Hollanders, as well as our local Italian association Siotec. All have contributed greatly to aligning the direction of the Digital Textile Conference to the needs of printers looking to expand their businesses in this market area.”

Digital Textile Conference tickets are available now for €150 for members, increasing to €180 for non-members.

For more information on FESPA’s Digital Textile Conference and to register to attend, visit:www.fespa.com/digital-textile-conference.