Sandhya Garg — Inside the Studio
How a Drawing Becomes a Dress
Digital Printing · The Fixed Repeat · 15–20 Iterations · 12 Printed Dresses · XS–3XL
Quick Answer
Digital fabric printing removes the colour ceiling that limited textile design for a century — screen printing needs a separate screen for every colour, so commercial runs typically stop at eight to twelve. Digital has no such limit, which is why gradients and painterly depth became possible at all. But it does not do everything. It does not scale the pattern to the garment size — the repeat is fixed on the roll — so every print has to be checked against the whole size run by hand. And it does not make the design. That is still fifteen to twenty iterations, by eye.
Every dress here starts as a story — a Moroccan medina, a Gaudí mosaic, a Rajasthani sunset — and that story becomes a print before it becomes a garment. How it makes that journey is the part customers ask me about most, and the part most brands describe in language that means nothing.
So here is the honest version, including where the technology stops helping. I trained in this at London College of Fashion and have been doing it professionally since — and the limits are the interesting part.
The same Versailles-inspired scrollwork drawing, placed two different ways — in vertical panels on the Antonia and in diagonal stripes on the Carolina. One artwork, two placements. That decision is made by hand, not by the printer.
What Digital Printing Actually Does
| What it does | Why it changed textile design |
|---|---|
| Removes the colour ceiling | Screen printing needs one screen per colour, so a commercial run typically tops out around eight to twelve. Digital has no equivalent limit — which is the only reason a true gradient, or a print with the tonal range of a painting, is possible at all. |
| Holds resolution at any size | A motif is equally sharp on an XS and a 3XL. The fine detail does not degrade as the garment gets bigger — which is genuinely true, and often confused with something that is not. See below. |
| Allows placement, not just repeat | Because the artwork is a file rather than a set of screens, it can be positioned for the pattern piece — denser at the hem, quieter near the face — instead of the garment being cut out of a tiled grid. |
| Prints to order, not to stock | Fabric is printed against actual production rather than a forecast, so bulk yardage is not dyed speculatively in a colourway that may never sell. |
How to tell a placed print from a tiled one on any garment — yours or anyone's — is in the guide to choosing a floral. It takes about four seconds and you only need to look at the side seam.
And What It Doesn't — Which Is the Interesting Part
Most brands using this technology describe it as though it solved everything. It did not, and the limits are where the actual work happens.
It does not scale the repeat
This is the one most often got wrong, including by people selling printed clothes. Resolution is size-independent; scale is not. The repeat is a fixed size on the roll, so as the panel grows the motif stays put — and the relationship between the pattern and the body shifts across the size range. A print that reads bold on an XS can read busy on a 3XL, and nothing in the printing process prevents that. Only a person checking it does.
It does not remove the chemistry
Digital printing is print-to-order rather than print-to-stock, which is a real advantage over dyeing bulk yardage speculatively. But the cloth is still pre-treated before printing and washed after, so it is not a waterless process and I would rather say so than imply otherwise. What we can claim honestly is set out in our note on slow fashion.
The printer holds the resolution. It does not hold the proportion. That part is still a person, looking at a 3XL panel and deciding whether the flowers are too small.
Fifteen to Twenty Iterations
Every print in this collection goes through fifteen to twenty versions before it reaches production. That number surprises people, so here is what is actually being changed each time.
1 · The drawing. By hand first — gouache, ink, pencil — before anything becomes a file. This is the stage that cannot be skipped and the one that makes the print ours rather than licensed.
2 · Colour against cloth. The same colourway prints differently on cotton poplin, viscose and linen, because each fibre takes ink differently. Every print is tested on the weight it will actually be made in.
3 · Scale against the size run. The step this page used to skip. The artwork is checked against XS and against 3XL, and the motif is resized or the placement adjusted so the proportion holds across the whole range.
4 · Placement on the pattern piece. Where the density sits, how it behaves at the side seam, what lands near the face.
5 · Two lights. Every print is reviewed in daylight and under artificial light, because a colourway that sings at a window can go muddy in a room — and customers see both.
Step five is also why the collection leans saturated — hard light and low light treat pale colour very differently, as set out in why colour wins in hard light.
A continuous gradient, a four-tone panel print, and a dense ornamental repeat. None of the three is possible with eight to twelve screens — which is the practical meaning of removing the colour ceiling.
Printed Dresses · Newest Arrivals · XS to 3XL
Twelve Prints, Drawn by Hand
Every one started as a drawing before it became a file. All verified in stock at their real prices today.
Gradients — Impossible With Screens
Placed, Not Tiled — One Artwork, Different Positions
Scale Checked Across the Size Run
Large-scale motifs, which hold their proportion from XS to 3XL where a small repeat would not.
The Same Ink, Three Different Cloths
Every fibre takes ink differently — which is step two of the fifteen-to-twenty.
Most styles XS · S · M · L · XL · XXL · XXXL · Every print drawn by hand before it became a file · Made to measure
The Technology Is the Tool. The Art Is Still Human.
Every print here begins as a hand-drawn concept — from travel, from art history, from textile traditions I grew up around. The printer reproduces it with a fidelity that was not available a generation ago. It does not have the idea, choose the palette, or decide that the flowers are half an inch too small on a 3XL.
Look closely at a digitally printed dress next to a screen-printed one. You will see more gradient, finer detail, and a depth that separated screens cannot produce. It is the difference between a print and a painting — and where each of these paintings came from is in how our prints are designed.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is digital fabric printing?
Printing a design onto cloth directly from a digital file, rather than through a set of physical screens. Screen printing needs one screen per colour, so commercial runs typically stop around eight to twelve colours. Digital has no equivalent ceiling, which is why gradients and painterly tonal range became possible.
Does a digital print scale to different dress sizes?
No, and this is widely misunderstood. Resolution is size-independent — the motif stays equally sharp at any size. Scale is not. The repeat is a fixed size on the fabric roll, so as the panel grows the motif stays put and the relationship between pattern and body changes. Nothing in the printing process corrects that; a person checking the artwork against the whole size run does.
Is digital printing better than screen printing?
Better for what we make, not universally. Digital wins on colour range, tonal subtlety and short runs. Screen printing still produces denser, more opaque colour and remains more economical at very high volume. Block printing and batik have qualities neither can reproduce. The technology should follow the design, not the other way round.
Is digital printing more environmentally friendly?
In one specific and defensible way: it is print-to-order rather than print-to-stock, so bulk yardage is not dyed speculatively in colourways that may never sell — and overproduction is the industry's central problem. But it is not a waterless process. Cloth is pre-treated before printing and washed afterwards. What we will and will not claim is set out in our note on slow fashion.
How can I tell a designer print from a stock one?
Look at the side seam and at the density from top to hem. A licensed library repeat tiles identically everywhere and cuts motifs in half at the join. A print drawn and placed for the garment shifts density down the length, is usually calmer near the face, and shows brush edges and small irregularities between motifs.
Why does the same print look different on cotton and viscose?
Because every fibre takes ink differently. Viscose reads more luminous and slightly deeper; cotton reads matte with marginally softer edges; linen's texture breaks the surface. That is why each print is proofed on the actual weight it will be produced in rather than approved once on screen.
Keep Reading
The Drawing Stage
How Our Prints Are Designed
Where each of these paintings came from.
Choosing One
Scale, Ground and Repeat
How to read a print before you buy it.
The Size Run
What Grading Actually Means
Why the repeat has to be checked at 3XL.
The Claims
Slow Fashion, Honestly
What we will and won't claim.
About the Writer
Sandhya Garg is a Project Runway Season 13 designer who won two challenges on the show and presented her collection at Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week. She studied womenswear and textile design at London College of Fashion and worked at Alexander McQueen, Gucci, Liberty London, and Alice Temperley. She draws, paints and colours every print in the collection by hand before it becomes a file — featured in Marie Claire, Elle, Cosmopolitan and Vogue online, in sizes XS–3XL with made to measure available.
Project Runway · Vogue · Marie Claire · XS–3XL
The difference between a print and a painting.
Sandhya Garg is a Los Angeles boutique creating limited-edition artisanal dresses in original hand-drawn prints, hand embroidery and heritage textiles. Sizes XS–3XL, shipped from Scottsdale within 1–3 days.
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