Next in Print
Untilabout two years ago, American Appareldidn’t do much printing, and whenit did, the vertical manufacturer usedoutside vendors.
Butwhen the company began introducing moreprinted hoodies, dresses, babyclothes and T-shirts, including its “Legalize”collection (T-shirts featuring logossuch as “Legalize LA” and “LegalizeGay”), its printing needs—and equipment—expanded.
Today,the Los Angeles–based company usesboth screen printing and Brother International’sGT541 and GT782 digital inkjetprinters.
“Werecognize the future with digital inksand digital technology, and we also appreciateand use screen-printing technology,” saidRobert Lopez, American Apparel’sprint-studio manager. “Depending onthe cost of the ink and the job, we’lluse [screen printing] for large runs if it’scost effective, but we like the soft hand ofdigital printing. American Apparel does verysoft fabric, and that’s what it’s known for,and we want the prints to reflect the brandof the company.”
Thedebate over screen printing versus directto garment is still ongoing, but advances indigital inkjet printing appear to beclosing the gap between the two. Brother’sdigital inkjet printers are makingwaves in the apparel industry with theirability to print on 100 percent cotton. Theprinters have proven especially popular withCalifornia buyers, who often use themfor printing on T-shirts, according toMatthew Rhome, an accounts manager forBrother.
Californiais the company’s largest marketfor the printers, and with all of its T-shirtand apparel manufacturers, the city ofLos Angeles is almost No. 1 nationally, rankingright behind the state of Florida, hesaid.
Brotherlaunched its first digital inkjet garmentprinter in 2005, which could only printon light-colored fabrics, followed by asecond digital printer two years ago, whichcould print on both dark and light fabrics.While the company is not allowed torelease detailed numbers, it has more than3,000 of these units currently in the field,Rhome said.
Itsnew GraffiTee series, which debuted inOctober and replaces the earlier GT541and GT782 models, is a smaller, cheaperdigital inkjet printer, which retails for$22,000, compared with $55,000 for theprevious models.
Rhomeshowcased the new series at theTexprocess trade show in Atlanta in Apriland said he was “swamped” with interestedbuyers.
“I’venever been to a trade show with sucha good response,” he said. “Compared toany show I’ve done in five years, thatone was the best.”
Thedigital printer can print on both 100percent polyester and 100 percent cotton,with a special water-based ink formulatedfor cotton printing. Another bonusis that it can also print on darkcolored cottonfabrics, Rhome explained.
“It’sbig time; it really is. It has really changed a lot of things—from the small guywho wants to start a business in his garage,all the way to large international companiesthat are buying this machine formultiple reasons,” he said.
Smallercompanies are using the digital printersas a replacement for traditional screenprinting, and larger companies use themas a sampling device in their art department forbrainstorming without having tospend the time or money to set up thescreens or films one would need with screenprinting, he said.
Thedigital inkjet printers also print detailat a much higher quality, printing at roughly1200 dpi, compared with about 70dpi for screen printing, which works betterfor printing photographs or detailed art,he explained.
However,screen printing still remains cheaperfor large runs, and ink for screen printingtends to be about 70 percent less expensivethan Brother’s ink for digital printing,Rhome noted. Another drawback isthat currently, with polyester, digital printerscan only print on light-colored fabrics,as opposed to both light and dark fabricswith cotton.
Somescreen printers question the durability andlongevity of digital prints.
“I’vebeen in business for more than 30years, and direct to garment is not perfectedas of yet,” said Dave Pohar, ownerof New Way Silk Screen Printing inLos Angeles. “It’s only good for about 50washes. … If you wash it, it will wash out.”
Pohar’scompany prints T-shirts, sweatshirts, shortsand pants using a four-color directsilk-screening process.
“Directscreen printing will stay in unless youuse schlock ink,” he said.
Rhomenoted that Brother is the only companyin the market that both manufactures itsown print heads and formulates itsown inks, and because they’re a matchedpair, they provide good printing resultsthat last. They also use pigment, whichhe says provides more durability andless fading than dyes.
“Wetest with an AATCC [American Associationof Textile Chemists and Colorists] testthat we use as a benchmark for testing,and we come in about the same as water-basedscreen-printing inks in terms ofquality and durability,” he said. AmericanApparel’s Lopez maintains thatscreen prints can be slightly more durable thandigital but disputes that digital printingwill wear off prematurely.
“Thatmeans it wasn’t cured right,” hesaid. “Here, we have quality control thatjust does quality control, and curing isdone by the operators. The last person checksthe color and design and colorfastness.”
Printingon some of the looser weave fabricsin the market could cause a digitally printedimage to fade, but American Apparelproduces shirts known for their tightweave and ability to hold color, Lopezsaid.
Oneadvantage to screen printing is thatit can provide richer, brighter hues for particularcolors, Lopez said.
“Formatching Pantone colors, you can’tbeat it,” he said. “With screen printing, youcan get brighter colors because youcan mix colors by hand, but there’s onlyso much control you have with digital inksbecause they’re CMYK—they justuse yellow, cyan, magenta and black tomix colors. … As far as using a primary color,like red or blue, you can’t do that withdigital—only with silk screening.”
AmericanApparel also uses digital printingfor photographic prints or more intricateart because of the detailed, highquality prints,as well as using it for sampling in-housedesigns.
“It’sa fast way to get an image— designerscome up with something new andput it on a garment before we decide whetherto kill it. We can produce a sample withinthe hour and decide if we’re goingto make it or not,” Lopez said. “As faras sampling, you can’t beat it.” It’ssomething the company is looking forwardto experimenting more with, he said.
“Digitalcan go a lot further,” he said. “It’s just scratchingthe surface.”
