Direct-to-garment and direct-to-fabric printing technology provider Kornit partners with the U.K.-based charity Graduate Fashion Foundation (GFF) to spotlight student fashion designs that use print.

The pair invites 2023 final-year graduating students studying at a GFF member university to submit their collections for consideration in the Printed Fashion Textile Competition. The competition features three rounds, with submissions due by Feb. 17.

From those entries, eight finalists will be selected and flown by Kornit to Düsseldorf, Germany, in March. There, they will see their designs come to life in print production using the Kornit Presto MAX DTF system and take their printed textiles home to complete their final collections. Each print will be showcased at the entrance of Graduate Fashion Week (GFW) 2023 in London, and three winners will be selected as finalists by Kornit.

Commenting on Kornit’s involvement, Global Content Manager Robert Zoch says, “We participate in events like these because it directly elevates the experience of fashion and textile creation. While digital on-demand production offers a tremendous opportunity for producers to be more agile, transparent, and ultimately profitable — it is the creators who can experience the many ways we’re unleashing creativity without sacrificing quality, graphic capability, or sustainability.”

Winning collections will be shown during GFW’s Best of Show catwalk on Thursday, June 15. Garments from the winning collections will be put in London retail stores.

The partnership with GFF shows Kornit’s continued commitment to serving the fashion industry through on-demand printing solutions, allowing designers to approach their work through a digital lens.

“This technology realizes the true potential of a digital world that has already tapped into a community of visionaries to create virtually by enabling fast, uncompromising fulfillment of their visions in the material world,” Zoch explains. “We’re working to make creative fulfillment more accessible, more complete, responsible, and the expectation, befitting the expectations of a digital-native generation. Realizing a new paradigm for creativity demands we engage the creators themselves, and that is why Kornit insists upon working with these students and artists.”

Students are encouraged to document their design journeys on social media, specifically via Instagram Reels and TikTok, using #KornitXGFW.