ImagesMagUK_Digital-Edition_Dec17

DECORATOR PROFILE www.images-magazine.com 24 images DECEMBER 2017 YR’s live garment customisation is bringing a new experience to the high street and meeting both consumers’ and retailers’ needs T he flagship Levi’s store on Regent’s Street in London is a must-visit destination for tourists and London shoppers alike. This December, the renowned denim brand is giving consumers even more reason to visit through an inspired collaboration with live printing company YR to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the iconic Levi’s Trucker Jacket. Like any leading brand, Levi’s knows that, with online shopping sales increasing, there is a growing pressure on bricks and mortar fashion stores to sell customers more than just clothes on rails; today’s customer wants an experience to go with their purchase. Hence the involvement of YR – creating memorable experiences is what the company is all about. YR started life as Lumacoustics in 2009. Set up by university friends Tim Williams, 38, and Tom Hogan, 39, the company initially marketed what it says was the world’s first digital graffiti wall. YrWall, which was mainly used at events, was created by graffiti-enthusiast and software developer Tom and featured on the BBC’s Dragon’s Den TV programme in 2010, where the duo mentioned in passing about also printing people’s designs onto T-shirts. (They landed a £50,000 investment from entrepreneurs, Peter Jones and Deborah Meaden, which they initially accepted during filming then reportedly turned down after the show.) Tim and Tom soon realised the appeal to customers of graffiti tees that were printed from the digital graffiti wall and so created YR Store in 2013, a pop-up custom T-shirt design and print shop just off London’s Carnaby Street. The concept of being able to customise a T-shirt on a screen and then watch it being printed live took off, reports YR’s head of sales, Anton Weiss, and led to other YR Stores being set up in retail shops such as Nike, Topshop, Selfridges and Liberty. The company’s events background also led it to establish YR Live, an agency that arranges live design and print events, from one-off days using ‘plug and play’ equipment to arranging lengthy campaigns complete with trained staff, post-event analysis and custom software. Numerous well- known brands have collaborated with YR Live on events, including Google, Toyota, Adidas and Facebook, explains Anton. “We do lots of big events: Mobile World Congress, Google Beach at Cannes Lions, Geneva Car Show, the World Cup in Rio... The Rio Games with Coca-Cola wasn’t a huge activation, but we had just two weeks to make it happen and getting equipment and consumables in and out of Rio proved to be a very interesting exercise indeed! “There was also the US Open Custom Polo Shop with Ralph Lauren: we operated a live dashboard of metrics, and we were processing orders from tablets that were roaming the event as well as from fixed terminals at the shop. The stakes were high as shirts were selling for US$85, and there were so many VIPs and celebs ordering them. Ultimately, it was a huge success and worth all the effort.” YR offers a wide range of products that can be customised from stickers and tote bags to laptop cases and T-shirts. The decoration services it offers are just as varied: dye sublimation, direct-to- garment (DTG), vinyl, embroidery, UV printing and laser/etching. A favourite design, Anton reports, was the pop art- inspired tote bags on the Asos Global Tour in 2016 and 2017: “We visited over 50 campuses on each tour and the students were very creative with their designs and slogans.” Keeping up with new techniques is paramount, Anton adds. “Any advancement in printing techniques and speed can open up new opportunities for us. When the speed of 3D printing Live & direct