What happens when you combine cutting-edge printing technology with ingenious design and trailblazing talent?
That’s what distinguished Israeli event producer Motty Reif, and printing giant Kornit’s CEO, Ronen Samuel, set out to discover. “The fashion industry has had only one type of model for the last four decades,” says Motty.
Their mission was clear: to bring sustainable technology and diversity of talent to the forefront of fashion. Kornit Fashion Week runways featured all shapes, sizes, ages, colors, and styles, allowing each designer to create a variegated landscape to display their art.
And it was a smashing, sold-out success!
The Event
Kornit Fashion Week LA in Fall 2021 was a groundbreaking, industry-shaping event, unlike any other LA show. The traditional LA Fashion Week event took place later in September. While it is similar in its purpose to advance art and fashion, it was not created to emphasize sustainability and technological innovation.
The Kornit event spanned three locations, showcasing seven different sustainable technologies, and featuring twenty-four demos and an equal number of panelists. The event ushered in a new era of the fashion industry with a laser focus on social responsibility and unrestrained creativity.
Twenty-two designers produced over 300 looks printed exclusively with Kornit’s direct-to-fabric and direct-to-garment technology. These custom-designed and sustainably printed looks strutted eighteen catwalks, showcasing a unique and refreshing diversity of talent.
Kornit billed the event as a front-row seat to the latest in in-demand fashion and technology. It was also intended to foster incredible networking opportunities for designers, suppliers, and investors alike. Attendees were privileged to witness the immediate on-demand creation of fashion collections experience first-hand how new technology is shaping the fashion industry.
The Talent
Kornit recruited twenty-two pioneering designers to create twenty-two unique and creative collections using their fabric printing technology. These collections were presented in eighteen exciting fashion shows at Kornit Fashion Week LA in the fall of 2021.
Connecting the digital world and the physical realm with cutting-edge sustainable technology has allowed these designers to produce today what consumers want today, tomorrow, even next year.
Kornit Day 1 Opening
Kornit Day 1 - First Show
Kornit Day 2 - Gart Davis Interview
Kornit Day 3 - Opening
Kornit Day 4 - Recap Video
Featured Designers
AL, the label Asher founded in 2010, features an innovative blend of cutting-edge technology and paradigm-shifting fashion. He has been a modern pioneer for incorporating digital print, illumination techniques, and diverse materials in his designs.
threeASFOUR is a New York City-based trio of transnational designers. Their label was founded in 2005 by Gabriel Asfour of Lebanon, Angela Donhauser of the U.S.S.R, and Adi Gil of Israel. They have founded their legacy on melding new technology with the traditional craft of fashion design to create wearable art.
Bishme’s bold and streamlined garments have earned him global accolades due to his adept ability to sculpt clothing that celebrates a woman’s body. His style is confident, sexy, and architecturally captivating and reflects his emphasis on socially conscious practices.
Guvanch Agajumayev is the creative mind behind the New York City label. Born into repressive social norms of an ex-Soviet territory, he set out to break the mold of transitional fashion. Guvanch NYC is a gender-fluid brand with a dazzling approach that transforms everyday wear into edgy and avant-garde art.
With executive history at labels like Elie Tahari and Kenneth Cole, Kobi Halperin is an industry sage. His own designs are crafted with European sensibility and showcase modern femininity. He has since launched his own ready-to-wear brand and has established his label as aspirational but functional, filling the gap between timeless and trendy.
Georgine is a women’s ready-to-wear created with European sourced luxury fabrics. Georgine Ratelban founded the New York brand, and her designs embody the spirit of the tailored, unapologetic woman.
Born in the Philippines, Oliver is now a Southern California local and specializes in elegant, red carpet looks. His works have been heavily featured on TV shows, Hollywood events, and sported by celebrity fashionistas. He is also a previous winner of the Sustainable Eco-Fashion Award and is no stranger to sustainable fashion innovations.
The legendary French house of fashion, Ungaro, commissioned Kobi Halperin to bring their breezy, colorful, and feminine summer moments to life. With his own modern twist, of course. The collection was available at Saks Fifth Ave in November 2021.
Inspired by her experiences in the Middle East, Russia, and Japan, Kristina Tsvetkova Sutton founded her label Lakris. It all began with her first, uniquely innovative piece, “The Evolution Shirt,” and has snowballed into a brand that embodies meticulous detail and skilled craftsmanship.
Popular with the international art and cultural crowd, Moldovian-born Aliona now bases her brand out of LA. She’s previously been published in Vogue and touted as “millinery’s new star” for her exquisite hat work.
Victor once applied to the prestigious Shenkar College of Engineering and Design in Israel with a dress completely made of 10,000 safety pins. He received grants and funding for the following four years of his studies there. He’s set innovative trends ever since and worked with the Cavalli brand for over four years. He is now considered one of the leading designers in Israel.
Created by John Thompson, this label is colorful, fun, and edgy. His designs have been worn by music icons and Hollywood celebrities alike.
At Coldea Productions, we had the privilege of capturing the entirety of his nearly twenty-minute fashion show. There was live music, choreographed dancing, and a whole host of modern, bold apparel. It was a showcase of inspirational apparel that made a memorable impression on all in attendance.
Jen has been in the fashion and costume design industry for long enough to garner the reputation of one of the busiest stylists working today. With a long and impressive list of celebrity clientele, major brands, and sought-after photographers on her books, she proves she’s accomplishing her goal to help women look and feel their best.
Drue has brought his luxury menswear brand from his Jamaican hometown to the streets of Brooklyn, NY. He started out styling his friends, but an extensive list of NBA players, prominent clergymen, politicians, and celebrities followed as his excellent reputation grew. The man who wears Beckemberg is a tasteful, classy gentleman with edgy elegance.
Another product of the illustrious Shenkar College of Engineering and Design, Shalom’s apparel is famous for its exquisite tailoring and eye-catching color design.
Placebo is a pioneer of tech couture and advertises as the ageless, sizeless, genderless digital activist fashion house. Founder, Derhi Roei, graduated Shenkar College of Engineering and Design in 2016 and has positioned himself at the forefront of sustainable fashion.
NAOT is an Israeli shoe company specializing in ethically and sustainably manufactured luxury footwear. Each pair is crafted with the combined talent of people from different cultures and backgrounds. Their signature leather insoles matched with modern designs create the perfect combination of comfort and fashion.
A team of designers accompanied NAOT to represent the brand at Kornit’s Fashion Week LA event. This included the minimalistic but stylish talents of Kentaro Kameyama, and Marina Leight Atelier’s soft, androgynous stylings. Previously featured in Vogue as “One to Watch,” Kanyinsola Onalaja brings her artful love of color and textiles to the NAOT team.
Toit Volant is another brand that works with the NAOT label and is designed by Alnea Farahbella, who specializes in oversized pieces. A native Californian, she is a proponent of ethical and environmentally friendly practices in the fashion industry. The fifth designer to represent the NAOT shoe brand was Orit Levinger, who is also a celebrated part of their design team.
The vast number of designers, innovators, and fashion stylists that were featured at this sustainable fashion event is a testament to the validity of Kornit Digital and Motty’s mission for the future of the fashion industry.
The Company
Kornit Digital is in the business of sustainable, on-demand fashion manufacturing. This operation is revolutionizing the apparel and textile industries on a global scale. The company was founded in 2002 and boasted over 150 million garments printed with their technologies every year worldwide.
They serve colossal custom decorators and fulfillment centers as well as the growing e-commerce and custom garment industry. With Kornit Digital’s patented technology and software solutions, they’re revolutionizing the fashion tech industry for both established labels and burgeoning brands by offering an impressive line of high-speed, direct-to-garment printers.
Kornit provides the full spectrum of solutions with their “concept to customer” printing systems. Offering everything from inks and consumables, proprietary software, technical support, as well a professional workflow, their machines were built specifically for on-demand garment and textile production.
Kornit Fashion Week LA guests were able to see over three hundred ideas come to life and strut down eighteen different catwalks, only made possible by Kornit’s groundbreaking printing systems.
The Technology
In a consumer-driven marketplace, textile producers and innovative designers need technology that rises to the occasion. Kornit’s printing system was designed to reduce labor and waste while still producing superior quality.
Proprietary technology and in-house chemistry development have been leveraged to introduce a line of swift, direct-to-garment, and direct-to-fabric printers. With their integrated pretreatment solution and NeoPigment inks, Kornit Digital’s printing system is a good fit for both designers and manufacturers and was specially designed for digitally printing on both light and dark garments. This essentially creates the industry’s first single-step printing process!
Their superior solution enables printing with only one ink set on all types of fabric, and there is no additional finishing process required. A surface of black or white is printed on the fabric, and the CYMK colors of the design are printed on top after, while all are still wet.
All inks and consumables are 100% eco-friendly and work equally well with all materials. And due to Kornit’s commitment to sustainability and a tree planting initiative, its operation is 100% CO2 neutral.
The Production
Coldea Productions teamed up with Penguin Agency to bring the modern and avant-garde aesthetic of this venture onto the screen and in front of thousands. We filmed interviews, runway shows, tech demonstrations, and speaker sessions – essentially creating an entire digital campaign featuring all the talent and tech represented at this event.
We were privileged to capture the dynamic inclusivity on the runway as the age, size, race, and gender diversity were truly inspirational. This was a stark difference from traditional fashion weeks, making it an incredible opportunity for our team to be part of.
Showcasing movement and process through videography gave life to the captivating and colorful designs, making it easy to highlight Kornit’s versatile, on-demand digital printing technologies.
The digital and traditional world colliding on the catwalk made this event a must-see. We can’t wait to see what they do next! In the words of Kornit Fashion Week LA founder Motty Reif, “This is just the beginning of changing an industry to become much more sustainable and inclusive.”
