Guest speaker AJ Weir from Burberry leads career insights

Adding industry insight at the event was guest speaker AJ Weir, Designer for Print and Textile Ready-to-Wear (RTW) at Burberry, who shared his career experience in textile design and the journey toward sustainable, circular production. AJ also provided guidance on career pathways in the industry, inspiring students to explore how digital textile printing can open opportunities for creativity, innovation, and sustainability.

AJ Weir said: “Bridging the gap between students and industry is fundamental not just to career opportunities, but to economic development, which is why I was so pleased to be invited by Epson to its Textile Academy. Print has been a part of the fashion industry since ancient times, and recent developments in textile printing have challenged the norms around design, development, and innovation. It’s been fun to see the versatility of print today and to tell students how rewarding and enriching print can be as a career choice. As sustainability grows in importance in every industry and walk of life, it is inspiring to see young people wanting to contribute with thoughtful, responsible print design.”

Hands-on, sustainable textile production

To show students how easy and sustainable the fashion supply chain can be with on-demand textile printing, they took part in a ‘no-sew’ dress workshop, new to Epson’s Textile Academy. Inspired by the viral ‘no-sew’ dress social media trend - students printed, cut, and modelled their own designs into simple dresses using dye-sublimation printing, with AJ Weir selecting the best designer and rewarding them with an Epson A4 dye-sublimation printer. The award was presented to Roisin Allen, Fashion Design and Technology Student at Loughborough University.

Students were also invited to Bring Your Own Garment (‘BYOG’) to explore how direct-to-film printing can be used to upcycle garments, give clothes a second lease on life, and commercialise sustainable production.

Ashley Hancox, Textiles student at Loughborough University, commented on the day: “The day has been very informative and eye-opening. We have explored a variety of print processes and learnt more about the sustainability challenges within the textiles industry. We are usually only exposed to dye sublimation printing, so it’s been great to learn how direct-to-garment and direct-to-film printing techniques can be utilised. It’s so important for students to have access to events like today because it shows them the available options, from running your own business or the path to design houses through printing.”

Workshops and industry expertise

Bringing Epson’s Textile Academy to life were business and sustainability experts from Epson and textile print wholesaler Prinfab.

Duncan Ferguson, MD at Epson UK and VP for Commercial & Industrial at Epson Europe, stated: “The Textile Academy is about more than technology - it’s about sparking curiosity, nurturing creativity, and showing students the real-world potential of digital textile printing. Seeing them engage with the technology, experiment with design, and learn how sustainability and innovation go hand-in-hand is exactly why we created the academy. It’s incredibly rewarding to help shape the next generation of designers and innovators."

Taran Rai, Corporate Sustainability Manager, Epson UK, said: "There is a lot of negative rhetoric around the sustainability of the fashion and textiles industry, but already so many in the space are innovating solutions that will transform how we buy our garments. Today we not only educated students on the environmental benefits of on-demand digital textile printing as a possible solution, but showed how they can leverage this and other circular economy practices as they prepare to embark on their careers.”

Oliver Mustoe-Playfair, Owner of Prinfab, commented: “Prinfab has democratised textile printing and empowered creative entrepreneurs to create their own successful textile businesses. Epson Textile Academy is a great opportunity to connect with students at the start of their journey, and provide an insight into the creative industries.”