why hand-printed?

There are no two hand-sewn bags or pouches that, even if they are the same model, are exactly the same because, however refined the technique used, people are not machines. In fact, this is not a problem, but on the contrary, it is part of the attraction of handmade products. Moreover, we do not use any industrial technique for our prints, but we prefer hand-printed fabric. Made one by one.

Why? Wouldn’t a more industrialized process save time and make printing more perfect? No doubt, but is that what we want? Actually, no. Rush is not a priority for us and that’s why we identify with the slow culture (slow food, slow life and, of course, slow fashion). On the other hand, we think that perfection and quality are not synonymous.

When we at dau al deu started to think about what our products would look like, when we started to try and test, we wanted them to be attractive to whoever would use them. We wanted that our bags or pouches were vegan and of good quality, of course. But we also felt that they could be a good vehicle of aesthetic expression to share with you, and that somehow led us naturally to make each one of them unique. After all, if the person who was going to use that bag or backpack was matchless, why couldn’t the product also be unique?

hand-printing techniques

We use basically two techniques for our hand-printed fabric. The first is stenciling, which consists of using one stencil or several, made by us, with which we apply water-soluble inks directly on the fabric. For the second, we use rubber stamps hand-carved by us with which we print using those same inks. Both processes can be used at the same time or not and the shapes made with them can be combined in infinite possibilities and in a huge variety of colors.

It is true that with these techniques the images and motifs are not printed with the accuracy of other processes, as is the case with silk screen printing. But each one of the imperfections that these forms of printing imply constitute small differences from one coin purse or pouch to another. They are signs of identity that make them different. And, from the artisan’s point of view, each imperfection is a small creative surprise, an unexpected factor that, we believe, enriches our work and, ultimately, the final product.