Alexandra Kaloshina, the founder of the Solstudio Textile Group, – about a business mission to Italy:
“In the middle of May this year, a delegation of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation visited Italy. The delegation included representatives of many industries and enterprises of the Russian light industry. According to the deputy head of the department
Evgeny Ryzhov, the purpose of the visit was subordinated to two tasks. First, get acquainted with new technologies in the light industry and understand whether it is possible to apply them in domestic production. And secondly, to establish strong contacts between the leading enterprises of the textile industry of both countries.
Both of these goals, in my opinion, were achieved. At least because the delegation visited enterprises of various categories. Thus, on the first day, a visit to the
Ratti textile group (
Ratti S.p.A. – Marzotto Group), founded in 1945, was extremely interesting. This company, I recall, is a company with a great history, which is still technologically up to date. It produces 4 million linear meters of luxury fabric annually. Here, the printing of fabrics of such famous brands as, for example, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo is carried out.
Of great interest were technologies that allowed fabrication for such popular firms within a single factory. At the same time, the company has not lost the skills of highly skilled manual labor.
At the same factory, we saw all 4 ways of application of a picture on a fabric: a rotary method, a matrix printing or silk-screen printing, and two more types of digital printing: direct and sublimation.
I would also like to mention the majestic Hall of Fame of the company, with its huge archive of the best product samples. In this collection there are Ratti’s own products from the foundation of the enterprise and the redeemed archives of many ruined factories.
Another structure of the company – Fondazione Antonio Ratti – is engaged in sectoral scientific research and development. In fact, this is a huge laboratory that collects profile information and analytical materials, organizes the production of specialized publications. The library of this company stores more than 20 thousand items. It is open to all visitors, including for students studying textile production, and for those who plan to work in the company.
Especially remarkable was the fact that during our trip the traineeship in Ratti of
Sofia Eliseeva, the winner of the
Textile Design Talents Solstudio Award-2018 (
March 20, 2018, International Exhibition INTERFABRIC, Expocentre Fairgrounds) was coming to an end. According to Sofia, this week’s traineeship gave a lot of knowledge and skills. She saw firsthand all the components of the process of transforming the picture into a finished fabric, and, of course, the modern approach of artists to drawing textiles. By the way, she managed to create several drawings, which, perhaps, will be printed in Ratti.
As noted by Sofia, most of all she liked the company’s approach to teaching students and trainees. Every specialist to which she was affiliated, without concealing, transmitted professional information.
The second company, which we visited, is called Eurojersey – a manufacturer of fabrics made from polyamide and elastane fibers. For us, this was also a valuable experience, for we saw how, by working with the percentage of fibers and the density of the fabric, it is possible to produce high-quality products – from the coat fabrics to the thinnest underwear – from the same raw materials.
Among us, I note, there are a lot of skeptics regarding synthetic fibers. However, due to direct acquaintance with Eurojersey technologies, skepticism, I believe, disappeared. Because fiber quality, tactile sensations, and the very appearance of the product literally amazed everyone.
And the third company that we visited, were
Epson and its technology center (Epson Center) for studying digital printing. We were given a detailed presentation on the development of the company itself and digital printing in the textile industry.
I believe that all the goals of the trip were achieved, and, besides, there was an extremely useful communication between industry professionals. I have more than once visited various Italian manufactures, but alone. And when their experience, development and the opinions are exchanged with each other by professionals, each of them has a deeper understanding of various problems and possible solutions to them.
The main conclusion of the trip to Italy, in my opinion, is this: the unification of professional communities is our common branch strength “.
Both of these goals, in my opinion, were achieved. At least because the delegation visited enterprises of various categories. Thus, on the first day, a visit to the Ratti textile group (Ratti S.p.A. – Marzotto Group), founded in 1945, was extremely interesting. This company, I recall, is a company with a great history, which is still technologically up to date. It produces 4 million linear meters of luxury fabric annually. Here, the printing of fabrics of such famous brands as, for example, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo is carried out.
Of great interest were technologies that allowed fabrication for such popular firms within a single factory. At the same time, the company has not lost the skills of highly skilled manual labor.
As noted by Sofia, most of all she liked the company’s approach to teaching students and trainees. Every specialist to which she was affiliated, without concealing, transmitted professional information.
The second company, which we visited, is called Eurojersey – a manufacturer of fabrics made from polyamide and elastane fibers. For us, this was also a valuable experience, for we saw how, by working with the percentage of fibers and the density of the fabric, it is possible to produce high-quality products – from the coat fabrics to the thinnest underwear – from the same raw materials.
Among us, I note, there are a lot of skeptics regarding synthetic fibers. However, due to direct acquaintance with Eurojersey technologies, skepticism, I believe, disappeared. Because fiber quality, tactile sensations, and the very appearance of the product literally amazed everyone.
