Epson teamed up with fashion designer Kansai Yamamoto for the V&A’s recent exhibition ‘Fashion in Motion: Kansai Yamamoto’. The company printed around 30 of Yamamoto’s designs on its digital textile printers amounting to more than1,000m2 of textiles including cotton, polyester and silk.
Yamamoto’s creations, which combine traditional Japanese designs and modern styles, were largely printed using Genesta inks on the Monna Lisa textile printing system, developed by Robustelli of Italy and using Epson’s inkjet technology, and on the Epson SurePress FP-30160.
The Japanese designer, who began his career in London more than 40 years ago, approached Epson after seeing samples of its printed fabrics. “My policy for this show was to demonstrate how my creations today are superior to those when I debuted in London 40-odd years ago. One thing about Japanese aesthetic sense that has been passed from generation to generation is how combining layer after layer of patterns, and how the art of ingeniously blending various colours and patterns together generates completely original artistic beauty. When I saw what Epson had created I realised I had to hone my skills higher than ever before. Put a different way, it was Epson’s passion for truly innovative technology that made my latest challenge possible. After this show, I really believe that the passion Epson and I share for creating beautiful creations will spread throughout the world.”