From Luxury Goods to Common Goods? Evolving Styles for Digitally Printed Textiles

Digital tools for textile artists working with print are coming into their own, and a new visual language is starting to evolve. This article provides an objective analysis of these emerging styles for surface and textile design, as well as a personal account and exposure of my own experimental processes as a practitioner working with CAD. It introduces a comprehensive means for categorizing these new styles created by digital printing. It also offers a unique reference for textile historians and designers who are interested in the way in which digital fashion transitions from the catwalk to the high street. The article covers recent works by textile artist/designers working in this medium, investigating these new styles within the history of computing, as well as exploring the time lag between the introduction of new technology and a change in design styles. The technology used to aid textile design is undergoing rapid and radical changes. The fact that Photoshop was only introduced 16 years ago puts this into perspective. The article traces the beginnings of computer-aided design in the 1970s, following it through to the most recent innovations in digital textile printing. By viewing the changing relationship between “tools” and “style”, it provides an anthropologically informed framework that recognizes the role of artists in mastering new technology. With this interdisciplinary approach, it is the first article to bring together the overall history of computer-aided design with that of its use in the textile industry