It was a celebration of eye-popping neon, bold cutouts, and embellished rhinestones at the disco party that was the Yanky & Nataf fashion show at Kornit Fashion Week Tel Aviv earlier this week. Two Israeli designers, whose stunning looks were already seen on Israeli singer Noa Kirel and pop band Static, have said that they were inspired by the abstractions of the 1980s and 1990s as well as digital technology. They showcased this through neon, spandex and nylon.
It was more than a celebration for color, according to Yanky Golian & Nataf Hirschberg. Yanky & Nataf’s emboldened collection was also a celebration of fashion innovation driven by a new style era where cutting-edge tech fuels personalization, creativity, inclusion, and sustainability in the on-demand fashion space.
Yanky & Nataf used Kornit Digital’s newest and most advanced printing technologies to create their statement-making collection, including Kornit’s brand new Apollo direct-to-garment (DTG) system to print blended color gradients; the Presto direct-to-fabric (DTF) printer to engineer neon prints, and Kornit’s XDi decorative application to print on spandex for bodysuits.
They weren’t the only ones. Sigal, an Israeli fashion designer, joined Kornit Digital after many years with no individual collections. Kornit Digital gave her the technology to print a variety of prints and adapt them to specific fabrics. It would produce a unique result that she could use, and it was also available for purchase. The result was unique to her, but she could print florals and stripes on gray, red and beige fabrics. Kornit stated that she used a less hazardous water circulation method to print her designs.
Other collections, including one from Emirati designer Dr. Mona al Mansouri, also made use of Kornit’s state-of-the-art tech. According to Kornit, al Monsouri, the first designer from the UAE to ever showcase in Israel, had limited time to create her show — just 48 hours to design, purchase, and print fabric, then fly it back to to Dubai for sewing. Kornit helped Dr. El-Mansuri to make three unique looks with thin organza and transparent organza.
Although the designers took more time than al Monsouri to make their collections, fashion week showed how Kornit can help them create amazing on-demand collections. It was held during April’s first week. It can take up to 18 months to launch fashion collections due to garment production problems and supply shortages. But designers like Dekel were able make their collection in as little as three weeks. NoCamels was told by Ronen Samuel of Kornit that this resulted in significantly lower textile waste.
Kornit Digital, a US-Israeli manufacturer, developed industrial and commercial printing solutions in the apparel, textile, and garment industries. Since its inception, the company has seen a lot of progress. It now serves more than 100 countries around the world and has offices throughout Israel, Europe and Asia. In 2015, the company was listed on public stock exchanges.
During a press event on the second day of fashion week, Samuel declared he has earmarked $1 billion in sales as Kornit’s revenue goal by 2026. NoCamels also heard from him why the digital textile printing firm decided to host fashion weeks in Tel Aviv.
“We assessed how we can influence the industry. At first, our focus was on the production floor. Then we realized we needed to get upstream to speak with brands. It was clear that we had to speak to designers and influencers. The operating systems must be ours. We asked ourselves what is the right marketing vehicle to deliver these messages and interact with the audience.”
The company realized that brands were not coming to the fashion and textile trade shows, where Kornit was showcasing its technologies, Samuel explains, so they tried to figure out how to “go up in the value chain,” which they soon realized was at fashion week.
“We knew we are going to be the next operating system, and we saw ourselves as changing the industry, so we decided, instead, that we were going to run our own event and not participate as sponsors.” Kornit Fashion Week in Tel Aviv has since expanded to locations around the world, including Tokyo, Los Angeles, and Milan, and Samuel says the next one will be in London in about a month.
“This was a real opportunity for us to really to deliver those messages about inclusion, about sustainability, about diversity, about on-demand, about creativity, and unleashing the creativity” which is the vision behind the next chapter of Kornit Digital,” he adds.
Kornit is making an impact all over the globe. The company teamed up with Fashion-Enter, a not-for-profit social venture to create a London innovation center. In Israel, the company launched state-of-the art ink manufacturing and raised $25m earlier in the year.
Discover new printing methods
Kornit Digital was the first to introduce the digital textile printing system in single-step. This technology is now available for direct-to garment (DTG), and then direct-to fabric production. DTG is a game changer for mainstream mass production in fashion and apparel, a market that was previously constrained by outdated, polluting production methods.
During the press event, Kornit unveiled the new Kornit Apollo direct-to-garment (DTG) digital system, which uses Kornit’s MAX technology, to offer high retail quality with full automation control and integrated smart curing processes, utilizing tech from Germany’s Tesoma, a textile dryer company recently acquired by Kornit. While some designers are already using these printers, they won’t be available to most customers until 2023.
“As the design, technology, and fashion worlds converge design, there’s a tremendous opportunity now created. Kornit is writing the operating system for fashion – and today, we are introducing game-changing technology for mass production that will offer a powerful alternative to screen printing,” says Samuel.
Kornit also unveiled its Atlas MAX Poly DTG production system, a DTG printing solution, predicted to transform the professional and recreational sports apparel and teamwear markets, which suffer from limitations due to the mass customization of polyester, Kornit said. The technology targets the athletic apparel market’s reliance on synthetic, polymer-based fabrics, according to Kornit’s Chief Marketing Officer Omer Kulka.
The company’s systems also incorporate Kornit’s XDi decorative applications, creating new styles for multiple effects and unlimited combinations such as threadless embroidery, 3D simulation, and high-density vinyl.
“There is a major change that’s happening and that’s self-expression. Z-generation wants to express their feelings. The Z generation wants to express themselves. They don’t want to wear the same things their friends are wearing. They’d like to have the same visual. And for that they need variety, more customization, even personalization,” Samuel tells NoCamels.
As the fashion world continues to grapple with the new normal of digitization and trends accelerated by the pandemic, Kornit’s printers can customize and personalize for the masses while making the production of fashion and textiles as sustainable as possible through on-demand production that includes zero overproduction, zero water waste, and zero carbon emissions.
The four-day Kornit Fashion Week is being attended by designers, retailers, e-commerce heavyweights, and others, demonstrating the convergence of design, technology, and fashion, which are central elements to Kornit’s strategy.
Designer Alon Livne, the famed Israeli designer who has dressed the likes of Neta Barzilai and Beyonce, will close out this year’s Fashion Week unveiling a collection he made using Kornit technology.