Printing With Tradition
Hermes-owned print facility Siegl isn’t exhibiting at the Los Angeles International Textile Show, but the company is planning a trip to California in November to meet with existing customers and survey the market for new ones.
The 78-year-old company, tucked away in rural Le Grand- Lemps, France, a few hours from Lyon, has been quietly printing for such luxury accounts as Hermes and Moeuml;t Hennessy Louis Vuitton. The company also prints for swimwear and lingerie businesses such as Victoria’s Secret, Sara Lee Branded Apparel, Huit, Princess Tam Tam and Jantzen.
The company’s flexibility and low minimums (250 meters) keep the focus on quality rather than quantity.
“We are a small company,” said Frederic Perrin, sales manager for the company, which was fully purchased last year by Hermes. “We are not able to develop a huge range. We have to develop a special range for the American market.”
Siegl employs 120 people in a 19th century building that is currently undergoing a 15 million euro renovation. The company has the production capability necessary for flat-screen printing for scarves, such as the famous Hermes scarves. There are two 100- meter flat tables, four 50-meter tables and wide-width tables for printing beach towels, pareos and allover designs.
For more moderate products, Siegl has rotary machines that can print up to 20 meters per hour and two Mimaki inkjet printers for sampling. And the company recently purchased a DuPont inkjet printer to develop new business. Perrin said the inkjet printer could be an option for smaller companies interested in photo-realistic prints and those unwilling to incur the expense of engraving a pattern.
“This is the future of our market,” Perrin said, noting that in the future, customers will be able to e-mail prints directly to Siegl, which will then prepare sample meters in less than 48 hours
