It was a very fruitful trip. Thanks for asking. Wink. I went to see screen printers and got blown away by the set up costs and the minimums. Where once I would not have thought twice about running a new project these days I am a little more cautious about where I place my money. Plus, digital printing is coming so close to screen printing these days.
I has always wondered about the reason that printed silk in Italy was called stampata as well as the history of screen printing. I did not realise that until the second world war printed silk was literally stamped with wood blocks that either rolled onto the silk or were moved across the printing table and pressed. After the second world war the technology moved to screens, they were more cost effective than stamps and could offer more details and the Italians got very good at it. Incidentally, the screens are not silk in "silk screen printing" I don't know why I thought the original ones were. They were always polymer and that was also a product of the end of the second world war and the advancement in polymer.
As with any technology it gets superseded, this time by digital printers. It took a while for digital printers to get good, they often left a ghosting impression on the underside of the fabric. These days that tech has advanced so much that you can now double print which is in effect even better than screen printing in many respects but there is still a richness in screen printing that is unmistakeable and probably the reason companies like Hermes continue with it despite the technological advances in double printing.
I had some great food over there, I don't wish to brag but there was a pasta at a restaurant called Tipi Tipici, perched on the hillside, it was black ink hand made pasta with prawns, tomatoes and a cream bisque like sauce. Unforgettable, I went back a few times.
We continue to focus our limited editions on the organzino warp, outside of the triple warp garza grossa looms they are the most coveted, and certainly in my opinion they produce our designs in such fine detail whereas our need for garza grossa is limited.
The loom can only produce 9 metres a day of a design whereas a traditional loom can produce up to 34, that should be enough to make you understand. We are one of two companies to use it and I am not even allowed to go to the factory, the video was sent to me to show our weaving taking place so that you can't see any of the tech running it.
And on that note, new designs have been released. Please look at the puzzle design, it's so good. Plus the Meiji Palace birds. My friends, I do not skimp on my silks, I want the best for you. That being said, we are putting up our prices as the Australian dollar has weakened.
With love, call me if you need me, +61413140994
