It all started in the gym…
Activewear once intended to your gym classes and outdoor run is increasingly being accepted as office attire by more and more employers. This trend sprung forth when consumers decided apparel like yoga pants are fashionable enough to be worn outside the gym—with the help of a little styling. People found they could wear them for multiple occasions without having to change, which was enormously convenient.
The activewear market has been rising, owing to major shifts in consumer lifestyles. Sportwear brands are crossing over into casual wear and fashion, making sports clothing far more fashion-sensitive in terms of colours and design.
All major retailers and brands have been adopting activewear for their collections, with apparel influenced by sports in terms of style, colours, fabrics, and comfort.
Also contributing to the rising popularity of activewear and similar products are:
- Rising millennial population
- Increasing disposable income and per capita apparel spending
- Increasing influence of social media and micro-influencers
- Growing inclination of people towards health and fitness
- Increasing preference for comfortable, easy-to-wear, convenient, stylish, and functional clothes
Requirements for this market include low prices, fast delivery, design versatility (including personalization), and sustainable solutions.
The most commonly-used fabrics in this market are synthetic fabrics such as polyester, nylon, Lycra/elastane, and mesh fabrics. Knitted is more popular than woven.
This makes polyester the second-largest segment of today’s t-shirt market; it is key to sportswear, and growing in athleisure and functional apparel. In 2019, the global polyester t-shirt market was valued at over £25 million, and is growing at a 5.5% CAGR.
Performance redesigned: Introducing the most cost-efficient, single-step process for printing on polyester!
Polyester is printed predominantly using analogue solutions, which creates major technological, cost, and sustainability challenges. The challenge of printing on polyester is to create high-quality impressions with no design limits on multiple polyester fabric types and colors—without dye migration, which occurs when exposure to high temperatures causes dye to “migrate” from the garment into the printed ink.
Dye migration is challenging DTG printers who
want to work with polyester; traditional curing of
DTG apparel, which requires high temperatures, is
incompatible with polyester. However, recent
innovations such as Kornit’s NeoPoly technology
are addressing the dye migration problem, making
DTG’s attractive value proposition for unlimited
design capabilities, short-run profitability, and
on-demand versatility accessible to this critical
sportswear and athleisure market.
This breakthrough is achieved using inks and a fixation agent specifically developed for low-temperature curing, and polyester enhancing functionalities developed to maintain fabric characteristics and provide superior fastness. The result is an eco-friendly (Oeko-Tex and Eco-Passport certified, free of PVCs and other toxins) process that prevents dye migration on polyester.
All-in-one new business opportunities that
combine low prices, fast delivery, design
versatility and sustainability
With the advent of polyester-friendly DTG, printers can now meet the challenges of printing on popular fabric blends, textures, and both knitted and woven materials, delivering retail quality in all cases. Digital production meets the sports industry’s most vigorous standards for light and wash fastness, as well as maximum fabric elongation for long-term garment durability. That the technology offers a completely sustainable process free of water or paper waste, uses no harmful substances, does not pollute water, and requires relatively little energy makes it attractive to multiple components of the production experience, including cost per print, total cost of ownership, and compliance with both consumer and regulatory demands for responsible practices.
Bringing a solution to the sportswear and athleisure markets but also to the promotional and work uniforms markets, this technology enables different business models such as e-commerce shops, print houses, print shops, sports brands, promotional product fulfillers, and others.
Take it from our valued customers!
“Kornit fulfills a need where something has been missing, to print quickly, down to a single copy, with exceptional quality,” says Vincenzo Cirimele CEO of Italy-based Teetaly. “The market for polyester, in particular, has seen considerable growth, and thanks to Kornit Avalanche Poly Pro we believe we can solve a big demand
problem that exists here.”
“The Kornit Avalanche Poly Pro allows for far superior quality of finish for
embellishment compared to traditional print techniques. The machines are quick and reliable, with very little downtime, which is massively important to me as a
business owner,” says Mike Kent, Co-Owner of Kitlocker.
For more information, contact Kornit at:
Email: KDEU-info@kornit.com
Web: www.kornit.com
