Epson Digital Fashion Lab is an educational project created for Ukrainian yet unknown designers, beginners in the fashion industry, senior students and graduates of specialized educational institutions from all over Ukraine. The main goal is to provide novice designers with the necessary information for the start of their career in the fashion industry and help them to create their first printed clothing or accessories collection. Participants will present their works at Ukrainian Fashion Week in February 2022.
Participants will learn to develop collections under their own brand, gain knowledge in marketing, legal aspects and learn how to promote newly created collections. The training starts on 25th September, and the total number of project participants is 20 designers.
The project is divided into stages:
• 6-25 September 2021 – selection of participants for the educational program. Among the teachers of Epson Digital Fashion Lab are Ukrainian experts and successful designers.
• 25 September – 15 November 2021 – educational part, which includes both theory and practical acquaintance with modern technologies of printing on fabric and other materials
• 15 November – 20 January 2022 – printing materials on Epson printers and sewing of the collections
• February 2022 – the final show and presentation of the collections of Epson Digital Fashion Lab participants within the Ukrainian Fashion Week.
Educational program:
The curriculum offers theoretical and practical classes in an offline format in Kyiv or partial online format.
25.09.21
10: 00-13: 00 History of development – from sewing training to the designer of own brand – Volodymyr Podolyan
13: 30-15: 30 Advantages of local production and organization of the manufacturing process – Volodymyr Podolyan
15: 30-16: 30 Use of digital printing for the Fashion industry – Yulia Sokolova
16.30 – 17.30 Work with the curator
27.09-01.10.21 Practical training in groups
10: 00-11: 00 Acquaintance with the Seventh Heaven production – Konstantyn Tkachenko
11.00-13.00 – Demonstration of key features of sublimation, solvent and direct printing technology – Konstantin Tkachenko
02.10.21
10: 00-12: 00 How to register and protect a trademark`s name; Legal aspects of the fashion brand`s activity
12: 30-13: 30 “Peculiarities of creating a complete collection. Look and its development – Kyrylo Kharytontsev
13: 30-15: 00 Work with the curator
09.10.21
10: 00-11:30 “Conscious fashion” in clothing design; Glossary of conscious fashion; Circular fashion – Daria Marusyk
11: 30-13:00 What is a designer brand in Ukraine and its main characteristics; Collaborations: business reality or marketing hype? – Alexandra Dimitrievich
13: 30-15:00 Preliminary preparation for the presentation of the collection. Meeting with a set designer
15: 00-16:00 Work with the curator
16.10.21
10: 00-12: 00 How to choose the right raw materials, accessories and components to create collections. – Volodymyr Podolyan
12: 00-14: 00 Creating a collection of clothes – from sketches to finished products. – Volodymyr Podolyan
14: 30-15: 30 Basic principles and rules of price formation for designer collections – Yana Buchko
15: 30-16: 30 Work with the curator
23.10.21
10: 00-12: 00 Subtleties and “pitfalls” in working with sales agents and showrooms. – Volodymyr Podolyan
12: 00-13: 30 What is the formula for the successful promotion of a clothing brand, and how to bring the brand to the international level. – Volodymyr Podolyan
14: 00-15: 30 Communications with the media and social networks. How to tell the world, “what am I talking about”; How to present a collection to attract the attention of authoritative media – Roman Timofeev
15: 30-16: 30 Work with the curator
30.10.21
10:00-13:00 Presentation of the collection: features of the choice and implementation of Fashion show formats: advantages and risks for the development of the design brand – Alexandra Kakurina
13: 30-15: 00 Analysis of participants` actions based on the results of the last season and further actions in preparation for the next season. – Volodymyr Podolyan
15: 00-16: 00 Work with the curator
06-12.11.21
Upon the recommendation of the curator and the agreement with the production, we choose the date of the second practical lesson, where students already bring sketches, consult with the production about the possibility of making products.
15.11.21 – 20.01.22
The further schedule includes the production of collections in collaboration with curators and the Seventh Heaven
The range of equipment is available for Epson Digital Fashion Lab members:
The project provides acquaintance with modern digital technologies of printed materials for further tailoring of collections. Project participants will hold practical classes on the production of fabrics and other materials by digital printing “Seventh Heaven”. Epson sublimation printers on synthetic fabrics with a polyester content, the Epson direct printing printer on cotton fabrics with a print size up to A3 format, and the eco-solvent printer for printing on eco-leather of Italian production are available for production. The organizers of the project provide free printing of materials for the collections of participants and samples of printing.
Requirements for participants:
• Professional education in the design of clothing and
• Opportunity to come to study in Kyiv according to the curriculum at your own expense
• High skills in PCs, graphic packages for creating digital prints and preparation for printing
Participants` agreement:
• The participant agrees to transfer his / her personal data to the project organizers in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine
• The participant who submits the application for participation agrees that he/she will take the whole educational process, will prepare his/her own collection and present it at Ukrainian Fashion Week
• The participant agrees to the obligatory purchase of materials for his/her own collection at his/her own expense in accordance with the technical capabilities of the printing equipment
• The participant agrees that all illustrations, photos and videos that will be created during the project can be used in further marketing activities of the project organizers in the long run.
• The participant agrees that all illustrative materials developed by the participant within the project are his/her own and do not have elements of plagiarism or copying.
To participate in the Epson Digital Fashion Lab, fill out the form:
The deadline for applications is September 15.
After 15th September 2021, the project curators will contact the participants for an individual interview and selection.