Kevingston Increases Investment in Kornit Digital Systems

Kornit Digital announced that Buenos Aires, Argentina-based Kevingston is implementing the Kornit Presto S system for single-step, roll-to-roll direct-to-fabric printing.

This installation, which empowers the apparel and accessories brand to create a broad range of pieces using a single-step system and set of eco-friendly Kornit NeoPigment inks, follows Kevingston’s success in deploying the Kornit Avalanche HD6 system for efficient, on-demand direct-to-garment (DTG) production.

Since establishing its first retail store in 1989, Kevingston has grown its men’s, women’s, and children’s lines of traditional apparel and accessories inspired by Argentine polo and rugby, becoming a widely recognized brand that now claims 140 stores in Argentina.

In recent years, younger consumers accustomed to web-based, “see now, buy now” shopping has increasingly diminished the effectiveness of traditional seasonal collections.

As such, it’s become quite impossible to anticipate the most popular trends 18 months out, a development requiring agile technologies that can be adapted to serve new consumer demands in an instant. Kevingston cited this dynamic, and their aversion to producing an inventory that would go unsold, in selecting Kornit’s best-in-class digital production technologies.

“Fast fashion is the key to the textile industry,” said Diego Sterman, owner of Kevingston. “While we’ve been blessed to produce our apparel in close proximity to our retail stores, we also need to determine quickly which pieces are selling and which are not, and ensure we’re producing the popular items, with minimal lag between identifying the trend and acting on it.”

Kornit’s technology has enabled Kevingston to experiment with bolder, more eye-catching designs, as well.

“With the digital technology, there’s less risk in trying more extraordinary, less conservative concepts,” added Sterman. “We can print as many or as few pieces as necessary, in a very short time, which keeps our inventory risks in check. That’s simply not possible with traditional screen printing, which requires considerably more time and labor to set up, and higher quantities to justify.”

“In today’s textile industry, traditional production cycles represent a direct path to obsolescence,” said Chuck Meyo, president of Kornit Digital Americas. “Brands like Kevingston demonstrate that both web-based and brick-and-mortar apparel retailers can keep up with consumer demands when they have the technology to identify those demands quickly, adapt on the fly to align production with those demands, and remain profitable by selling the pieces people want, rather than accumulating inventory by guessing.”