Fashion designer Henry Holland has used graphics printed by Displayways on an Océ Arizona UV flatbed printer, together with a giant angled mirror, for his London Fashion Week catwalk show. The technique is a fashion first and created the illusion that models at the show were walking on clouds.
To set the scene, the catwalk was created in a multi-storey car park in Brewer Street, Holland’s objective being for the audience to soak up the gritty atmosphere before being dazzled by his hard-edged clothing line. He said: “This project has really opened my eyes to the capabilities of wide-format printing. It’s hugely exciting to be able to construct eye-catching, impactful, temporary spaces and environments using a printer like the Arizona.
Holland went on to explain: “I met with Canon and Displayways to discuss the concept for the catwalk show and they talked me through the different possibilities, including the Arizona and the substrates that we would work with. Our aim was to create an aura effect around the models. Designers spend so much time and money creating their clothing lines, but it’s the imagery from the catwalk show that speaks to people in the fashion world and will be shown again and again throughout the season.
“This is the first time I have worked with a printed catwalk, but it definitely won’t be the last. The quality of the print was exactly as promised – outstanding. The colours came out brilliantly, and the graphics produced on the Arizona were an essential element in achieving the overall impact we had envisaged for the show.”
Keith Birch, Displayways account director, added: “Our Arizona XT printer is ideal for projects like Henry’s. The print definition is very fine and it has excellent colour saturation and vibrancy. It’s also incredibly productive, which is essential for this project, as it required 180m2 of vinyl to be printed just for the catwalk.”