California Apparel News

The digital-printing business has been a contender for more than a decade in the T-shirt industry, but in 2019 it started to become more dominant. Digital printers made by companies such as Kornit Digital, Epson and Roland DGA can be used to make increasingly complex images on T-shirts, hoodies and other imprintable clothing.

Industry veterans such as Michael Sanders of True Value Fabrics in Carson, Calif., noted that digital printers were taking more trade-show real estate at the January Imprinted Sportswear Show, which has been renamed the Impressions Expo for 2020.

“This used to be a show about blanks,” Sanders said of ISS. “Now it’s more of a digital show,” he said.

The reasons for the boom in this business come from technological advances in digital printing and prices decreasing for printers. It also comes from changing consumer demands for customized T-shirts.

Companies working with digital printers developed a niche working with brands looking for small runs of clothing and unique orders. This business is important for e-commerce businesses, which often make small runs of clothing to fulfill the orders they receive online. New and emerging brands have been important customers for this niche, said Ian Gruber of Apliiq Inc., with offices in the San Diego area.

“Working with direct-to-garment printing opens up possibilities of doing business with brands that may not be able to afford minimums that conventional screenprinting bulk buys demand,” said Gruber. “For a startup brand, having to pay upfront for 100 to 300 units can be a huge obstacle to business.”

While digital printing is becoming more important, other ways of creating images on T-shirts are not going away. The traditional silkscreening process can produce superior images on garments, offer more colors and generally be used for jobs where large T-shirt volumes are printed, said Eric Basangan, the founder of Polymer in Long Beach, Calif. “Silkscreening is an art,” he said. “Silkscreening is never going to go away.”