Kornit Unveils Novel Printing Tech Used By Top Israeli Fashion Designers

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. Their striking designs were already seen on Israeli pop band Static and Ben El, as well the singer Noa Kikel.

It was more than a celebration for color for 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 years of not having a separate collection. Kornit Digital gave her its printing tech which enabled her design process in which she could choose a type of print to adjust to a specific fabric. She could be the only one to get it, but they would also make it available on-demand. She printed stripes, geometric shapes and florals on red, beige, and gray fabrics. Kornit explained that her printing was done using a water circulation process which was less harmful to the environment.

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. Dr. El-Manssuri could print on thin, transparent organza and create three unique looks for her opening collection with the help Kornit.

The designers were able to create stunning on-demand collections in a matter of weeks, even though they had less time than al Monsouri. It can take 18 months to launch a fashion line. Because of supply problems and garment production processes, however, Dekel’s designers were able create their style sets in only three weeks. This resulted in significantly less textile waste.

Kornit Digital, an Israeli-American manufacturing company, was founded in 2002. It develops commercial and industrial printing solutions for the textile, apparel, 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 in Israel, Europe and Asia. The company went public on May 15, 2015.

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 was also informed by Samuel why digital textile printing company Kornit decided to host fashion week Tel Aviv.

“We assessed how we can influence the industry. We initially focused on the production floor. But then we realized that we needed to move upstream to speak with brands. We knew we had to speak to the designers and influencers. We must become the operating systems. 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 continues its impact all over the globe. The company teamed up with Fashion-Enter, a not-for-profit social enterprise, to open a London innovation center. In Israel, the company launched state-of-the art ink manufacturing and raised $25 million earlier in the year.

New printing systems revealed

Kornit Digital pioneered single-step digital textile printers, first in direct to garment (DTG), then later in direct to fabric production. DTG is a game-changer in mainstream mass production of fashion and clothing, 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. They are creative and unique. They don’t want to wear the same things their friends are wearing. They’d like to be the 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.