Jessica Kendall: Prints, prints and more prints.

To further research how print is applied to fashion and what's on trend at the moment I took to the streets. Although screen printing is still a major industrial printing technique, digital print is utilised more and more by not only high end designers but it is also present on the high street. Just looking at what people were wearing made me realise how key print design is in garment design, print is everywhere.

A simple vest screen and hand printed purchased from a market stall is a fine example of bespoke prints. This perhaps would be produced on a small scale for sale just on this particular stall. Nonetheless the hand painted element gives it a quality we would perhaps not find in a more mass produced garment.

As it is winter and freezing cold many people were wearing coats, however the odd person was willing to brave the cold for a couple of pictures..Thank you very much! With print on the brain I began to notice how my friends wore prints. Some decide to wear clashing prints and others wear printed items as a statement.

My friend Cat always wears the most amazing prints! This particular outfit shows clashing prints at their best, the sketchy feather-like print on the top contrasts perfectly with the muted colours of the densely printed skirt. Beautiful!

This girl was wearing an interesting Turkish style printed scarf with animals on, I was informed that this was block printed by hand from a Turkish market stall. I think unique prints like this really make an outfit interesting.

As i was having trouble finding people who were willing to be photographed, i decided to look through my own wardrobe to see if I owned any printed garments. As my attire is usually very plain this was also a challenge! however I did come across a nice printed dress.

The print on this silk dress is beautiful. The bottom of the dress has a very graphic floral print which contrasts with the highly abstract marks which are almost like brush strokes. The garment is most likely screen printed as the design is quite simple.

Print on the catwalk

It is safe to say that print technology as come a long way in the past 50 years, although traditional techniques are still widely used, high-end designers have the scope to use more expensive and effective print techniques in their designs.

This image from British Vogue 1966 by Photographer Eugene Vernier shows the very simple screen prints of the 1960's. Although simple, I feel these designs are highly effective and transcendent, as designers such as Louis Vuitton have used simple prints like this in recent collections which channel 1960's designs.

Recent collections show how prints are being used to give a garment contours and shapes and create illusions. Digital print technology allows a print to be tailored to a particular garment meaning the designer can be much more playful with their ideas.

Dries Van Noten's F/W 2012 collection utilises new print technologies, multi layered and multi tonal prints are used effectively within the garment design.

Other examples of prints on the catwalk: