John Herrera and Epson team up for Eagle-inspired haute couture collection at London Fashion Week

Fashion designer John Herrera (www.johnherreracouture.com) has partnered with Epson to produce a 30-piece collection digitally printed with Epson’s textile dye-sublimation printers. The collection for men and women is inspired by the Aguila, the protected Great Philippine Eagle, and will show at London Fashion Week on Monday 20^th February (4-6pm, Fashion Scout Freemason’s Hall, 60 Great Queen Street, London).

John, based in Manila, Philippines, was winner of the London Emerging Designers (LED) Awards in 2015 and is a contender for this year’s Britain’s Top Designer.

John works closely with Epson in the Philippines and is at the forefront of taking fashion to the next level through digital textile printing using Epson’s SureColor F-series dye-sublimation digital textile printers. “This partnership with Epson is very exciting,” he says. “There are so many things you can do with printing compared to just buying fabric. Before, all collections by designers were created painstakingly by hand. Many of the outfits, such as 3D items that are worn by the models can only be attached by hand, so what was presented on the runway cannot be worn again and again. With digital printing, the clothes in the collection can be worn in real life,” says John Herrera. “The collection I will be presenting will be impossible to create without the Epson digital textile printer. Without them I would have had to paint the designs myself and, with only a month to prepare, it could not have been done”.

John adopts a “no-waste, no plastic” approach and puts a lot of importance on reducing waste in his work. “With digital textile printing, we only use the exact volume of fabric. Instead of wasting five yards of fabric to do a lay out for a dress, we use only one and a half yards of digitally printed fabric. Digital textile printing significantly cuts fabric wastage. Faster, more intelligent, almost zero wastage - that’s what Epson brings to the table,” he says.

Epson’s digital textile printing technology is driven by the company’s PrecisionCore printhead technology, one of the fastest inkjet delivery technologies in the world. Its print nozzles deliver ultra-precise control of ink droplets for superior image sharpness across a wide range of ink and media producing outstandingly vivid and unique prints. Digital printing shortens turnaround time and enables printing in small volumes for customised prints, compared to traditional printing techniques, which require high volumes and long lead times. As a result, digital printing helps designers such as John Herrera to achieve their artistic vision by translating their ideas to a range of fabrics quickly, easily and in the highest quality. 

“Epson digital textile printing is inspiring more and more haute couture designers to explore the creative and production potential that this technology enables. Now, designers are only limited by their imagination,” says Phil McMullin, Sales Manager, Professional Graphics, Epson UK.

Watch the John Herrera Collection preview in Manila.