DTP USP: Microfactory opportunities for Digital Textile Printing
Gooby, Becky
Authors
Becky Gooby
Abstract
Mass-produced, low-cost textile production, driven by fast fashion, obscures culpability and creates risks in complex supply chains. Consumers struggle to make sustainable choices as it remains unclear where, how, and by whom clothes are made. Overproduction leads to surplus, often destroyed or landfilled, while garment usage declines. New approaches to production are essential for sustainable change.
This presentation explores how digital textile printing (DTP) could drive small-scale change while complementing broader system shifts through combining of creative technology and design innovation; on-demand production models using microfactory setups (print bureaus, makespaces, and embedded repair hubs) integrated with advancements in software and automation, could enable mass customisation at scale. This empowers designers to create personalised, made-to-order garments, transforming our relationship with clothing, extending wear, reducing overproduction, and localising manufacturing.
Through a narrative review and case studies of UK-based SMEs, this study assesses DTP’s readiness to support sustainable, on-demand production. It highlights creative opportunities and evaluates its environmental benefits, and identifies areas for improvement, such as resource consumption, laundering-related pollution, and the sustainability of digital colourants. By examining both the opportunities and limitations of DTP, this study contributes to the conversation on digital manufacturing’s potential to create a more ethical, sustainable fashion industry.
This is a conference paper presentation which will be published as part of the conference proceedings. The Textile Institute publish their proceedings within one year of the conference so it should be published by 2026.
