Kyocera Collaborates with Elle Decor Italia to Showcase Sustainable Textile Innovation at Milan Design Week 2025
Kyocera Document Solutions Inc., led by President Takashi Nagai, has announced a groundbreaking artistic collaboration at Milan Design Week 2025. The initiative highlights the company’s eco-conscious inkjet textile printer, FOREARTH, and was made possible through a partnership with the prestigious Italian design publication, Elle Decor Italia. Uniting advanced printing technology with bold creative vision, the collaboration represents a powerful example of how sustainability and high-end design can merge to create meaningful, future-forward art.
A Design Week Debut Rooted in Innovation
The centerpiece of this collaboration is a series of immersive graphic installations printed with the FOREARTH system. These works, which include visually striking pieces developed by internationally acclaimed designer Patricia Urquiola, are currently on display at ELLE DECOR ALCHEMICA. The exhibition is taking place at the historic Palazzo Bovara, a Neoclassical mansion in the heart of Milan, known for its ornate interiors and timeless charm. The event runs from April 7 to 13, aligning with Milan Design Week’s packed calendar of creativity.
Urquiola, who is the founder of Studio Urquiola and serves as Art Director at iconic Italian furniture house Cassina, developed exclusive graphic works for the exhibition. These were rendered with FOREARTH’s environmentally friendly technology, allowing intricate, layered images to be printed with exceptional clarity and rich texture.
Exhibits Reflecting the Future of Home and Ecology
The collaborative pieces are featured prominently throughout the exhibition. Three works are presented in the Alchemic Corridor, a conceptual installation that explores the home as a living, breathing organism. A fourth piece enhances the ambiance of the Herbarium Restaurant, a space within the exhibit dedicated to the relationship between nature and interior design. In addition to the large-scale displays, custom-printed scarves worn by the staff also reflect the capabilities of the FOREARTH system, bringing sustainability and design even into the details.
The theme of the “Alchemica” exhibition aligns perfectly with the ethos of FOREARTH: transformation, adaptability, and respect for natural resources. It seeks to analyze how the home evolves throughout time—mirroring the changing seasons, emotional states, and functional needs of its inhabitants. FOREARTH’s ability to support such a theme through visually rich, sustainable output marks an important milestone in the merging of technology and environmental consciousness in the design world.
Environmentally Conscious Printing with FOREARTH
At the heart of this initiative is the FOREARTH printer, an inkjet textile printing system developed by Kyocera to address the environmental impact of traditional textile production. Unlike conventional analog textile printing—which consumes vast quantities of water—FOREARTH uses water-based pigment inks and proprietary technologies to cut water use by 99.98%.
This revolutionary approach significantly reduces CO₂ emissions and contributes to sustainable manufacturing practices in the fashion and design industries. It also allows for direct printing on a wide range of fabrics—including silk, cotton, polyester, acetate, and nylon—within a single system, streamlining production and minimizing waste. The resulting prints maintain the soft hand feel, durability, and vibrant color fidelity that designers demand.
Kyocera’s innovation is particularly relevant in an era when the global textile industry faces increasing pressure to curb its ecological footprint. FOREARTH provides a solution that doesn’t compromise on quality while opening up new creative avenues for designers and manufacturers.
A Designer’s Perspective: Patricia Urquiola
In reflecting on the collaboration, Patricia Urquiola shared her appreciation for Kyocera’s unique technological perspective:
What caught my attention in this collaboration was the chance to work with a printing technology that approaches things differently from traditional methods. I was curious about Kyocera Document Solutions’ FOREARTH, especially in how it addresses water usage in a more contained way. I’m always interested in tools that open up new ways of thinking and producing.”
She emphasized how the FOREARTH system made it possible to execute complex and delicate visual concepts without resorting to traditional dyeing methods:
Working with FOREARTH allowed us to print these delicate, layered images with precision, without relying on traditional dyeing processes. That felt important in the context of Alchemica, an exhibition that analyzes the home as a living, transforming organism—shifting throughout the day, the seasons, and the phases of life.”
Her words underscore how technology like FOREARTH not only supports sustainability but also enriches artistic freedom.
A Vision for the Future
Kyocera’s participation in Milan Design Week 2025 through this collaboration with Elle Decor Italia exemplifies a larger commitment to sustainable design and cross-disciplinary innovation. By making environmental responsibility a central feature of its printing technologies, the company is helping to reimagine what’s possible in textiles, fashion, interiors, and art.
As the creative industries continue to explore eco-conscious solutions, projects like this one signal a shift towards a more sustainable and imaginative future—where cutting-edge technology, thoughtful design, and environmental stewardship intersect seamlessly.
