Chapter 1

Textile Design and Print in the Digital age:

New directions in Textile design

As maintained earlier I stated that ‘we are moving towards a new era within the experimental environment that is ‘Digital Technology in the 21st Century’. Furthermore digital textile printing is one area that has significantly changed the way designers print, Bowles, Melanie & Isaac, Ceri. (2009, p.10) acknowledged that the advancement of ‘fabric-printing technology’, is paramount ‘since the invention of silk screen, digital textile printing is bringing about a revolution in textile design, designers are seeking inspiration from previously unexplored sources…a new visual language for surface design is starting to evolve’.

There is an organic hybrid that is evolving within fashion and textiles, the use of software, digital photography, video and special effects are producing young designers ready to take a new approach to the way we view fashion/textiles. Bowles, Melanie & Isaac, Ceri. (2009, p.10) have reiterated this point ‘ Fashion designers such as Issey Miyake, Hussain Chalayan and Comme des Garcons are breaking new ground with the creation and use of highly innovative prints that make little reference to traditional patterns’. Fashion and Textile are not the only areas in which there are vast improvements…costume-, theatre-, interior-, and product design to name a few where they are ‘finding it easier to involve themselves in the creation of surface designs for their work’. Bowles, Melanie & Isaac, Ceri. (2009, p.10).



However according to Bowles, Melanie & Isaac, Ceri. (2009, p.10) they stated that ‘digital print is relatively new and, due to its high cost, is only really feasible at the high- and middle ends of the fashion and textile design industry…drawing together disciplines such as textiles, fashion and interior, changing the way that designers work…the integration of print is becoming as vital to the designer’s vision as the form of the garment or product itself due to the immediacy and spontaneity of digital tools’.