Digital textile printing: Opportunities and challenges for sustainable localised production

Gooby, Becky

Abstract

This chapter examines how digital textile printing (DTP) has the potential to offer scalable and sustainable alternatives to conventional fashion and textile production by addressing two key challenges: inefficient overproduction and consumer behaviour. As mass-produced, low-cost textiles dominate the market, consumers struggle to make sustainable choices. DTP enables on-demand production, facilitating localised supply chains and supporting innovative business models that engage consumers and reduce the risk of mass production.

Drawing on a narrative review of sustainable fashion ecosystems and two commercial case studies the chapter seeks to address the role that DTP can play, the barriers to achieving, whilst also considering design-led approaches to drive change. It proposes repositioning DTP as a co-creation tool for ‘customise-print-make-wear’. By situating within micro factories and maker spaces this approach offers potential for community regeneration and small-scale economic growth, to support efficient production and behaviour change.

However, barriers remain, including limited access to sustainable substrates and colourants, profitability challenges, a lack of knowledge-sharing and lack of proven environmental data. By balancing DTP’s economic and creative potential with a realistic assessment of its limitations, this chapter contributes to the broader discussions on digital manufacturing’s role in ethical and sustainable fashion.

• Deposit Date: Jun 19, 2025
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Book Title: Digital Printing: Sustainable Solutions for Fashion
• Keywords: Digital textile printing, localised production, design-led approach
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/14582134
• Contract Date: Sep 1, 2025