Fujifilm Contributes to Yuima Nakazato’s Success at Fashion Show

As drupa 2016 impressively demonstrated: Printing makes the world more beautiful and enriches many parts of our daily life. Besides art, posters and sculptures, new printing technologies even allow creating couture. At this year’s show various exhibitors such as Highcon Systems, and students from the Media Design School Düsseldorf presented extraordinary dresses made out of paper, and the trend to print clothes made from different materials keeps increasing, as shown by Fujifilm’s latest collaboration.

Inkjet Technology Meets Fashion

Japanese fashion designer Yuima Nakazato launched his new collection at the Paris Haute Couture Collection, recently. In order to attend this show designers need a special invitation by the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. Considering the fact that 12 years have passed since a designer from Japan introduced dresses at the show, this was a big honour for the up-and-coming designer. Thanks to a holographic material his dresses shine brightly with a mysterious and aurora-like light. After the show, his collection was heavily featured in international fashion magazines and got a great feedback.

For the production of his outstanding outfits, Nakazato made use of hologram light effects. To realise his ideas, Nakazato looked for support and technological expertise. So, he contacted Fujifilm’s Open Innovation Hub (OI-Hub). With 200 wide-format UV inkjet printers and their technology for specific highly functional materials, Fujifilm was able to support his submission to the Paris Haute Couture Collection. Through a process of experimentation, they developed a method of printing graphics on a composite transparent backing material using their high-elongation UVijet KV ink. Previously, it was only possible to create four different types of colours using holographic fabric, but this method enabled Nakazato to make use of a broad colour spectrum.

Inkjet Holographic Printing in High Quality

Because of the complex manufacturing process, each dress turned out to be unique. “Through the technology that Fujifilm has contributed to this project, they have shown that their ink fixes extremely well and that if, after printing, you cut the material with a plotter or form it into units by hand, there are no problems such as ink detachment and robustness is extremely high. In addition to dresses, I also created some boots that use a holographic print created from photographs of the ice in Iceland, and here, too, the reproduction of the colours is extremely high-quality and the print looks just how I want it to. I don’t think there is any other company with the technology to achieve this combination of quality and strength”, Nakazato says about his cooperation with Fujifilm.

What do you think: Which other innovations in textile printing lie ahead? Leave us your opinion in the comment section below.