Headlines News
Epson brings digital textile printing to George Brown fashion lab

Canadian fashion designers can now access short-run, digital printing technology as a result of a new partnership between Epson and George Brown College.

Described as the first of its kind in Canada, the College’s Fashion Exchange LIFT (Leading Innovation in Fashion Technology) Lab is a working short-run manufacturing facility that offers hands-on education, applied research, manufacturing services and mentorship in support of local brands, designers, researchers and entrepreneurs. The lab features a range of apparel design and production technologies, including an Epson SureColor dye-sublimation fabric printer. As Epson explains, the SureColor fabric printer will give Canadian designers and design students the ability to experiment and customize patterns, while efficiently creating and producing collections.
 
“With Epson’s SureColor printer, the Canadian fashion industry has access to the most advanced, short-run fabric printing capabilities in the world,” says Mark Radogna, Strategic Marketing Manager of Professional Imaging at Epson. “Epson is proud to provide its advanced fabric-printing technology to Canadian fashion designers, helping them turn their vision into reality.”
 
The LIFT Lab launched October 29 as select Toronto designers toured the facilities and viewed demonstrations of the digital fabric printing technology. At the event, experts from George Brown’s Fashion Exchange and Epson participated in a panel discussion on the future of the digital textile industry and its impact on design, sustainability and commerce.
 
“The new resources accessible in the FX LIFT Lab will streamline the creative process for local designers and ultimately bring their creations to life without incurring significant costs,” says Marilyn McNeil-Morin, Director, George Brown Fashion Exchange. “A new generation of fashion designers will benefit from the adoption of Epson’s dye-sublimation printing technology in their design development.”