Greater Manchester design studio and fabric printer Friedmans used a Mimaki printer to print the pyjamas that unexpectedly ended up on TV character Villanelle, who strode through suburbia in them during episode one of the second season of the BBC’s Killing Eve, and viewers took to social media to locate the design.
It turned out that Friedmans and their design manager, Nick Thomas, was excited about its starring role in the TV hit. ‘It was as much a surprise to us that our design ended up in the limelight. The fabric was ordered through our web-to-print portal and it only really came to our attention when we saw the interest on social media after the first episode had aired,’ he commented.
Friedmans’ recent expansion into larger premises and investment in nine Mimaki textile printers afforded the company the capacity and flexibility to deliver high-quality textile print with a fast turnaround.
Thomas said, ’We can upscale and downscale our print capacity to match demand. Whether it’s printing hundreds of short runs or delivering substantial single jobs across multiple machines, we’re able to accurately match colour from computer monitor through to production. Over and above the reliability and consistency of the Mimaki printers, we’re using custom AVA software to match output across the range of Mimaki engines. This also ties into other innovative web-to-print capabilities that we use in the business, enabling customers to accurately create their own colourways for designs within our furnishings fabrics range.’
Friedmans’ ‘Colour Me’ tool is marketed under the Alexander Maverick brand and empowers interior designers to recolour and scale a range of contemporary textile designs before having them printed to cotton and linen cloths, all available to buy by the metre.

Produced on one of Friedmans’ Mimaki TS300 dye sublimation printers (purchased through authorised Mimaki partner, R A Smart), the print was then transferred using a rotary heat press onto a polyester-lycra blend fabric from the high-end Italian manufacturer, Carvico, for whom Friedmans are the UK distributor, before being sent to the client, where it was cut and sewn into the one-off garments. Multiple colourways were provided to enable the similarly styled pairs to be produced for the two cast members and the show’s costume designer, Charlotte Mitchell has been quoted as saying the stretch fabric was specified to ensure for the purposes of the storyline, they appeared ‘tighter and tighter’ and therefore too small on Comer.
‘Friedmans continues to grow as a business, reaching out to an ever more varied customer base, thanks to our ongoing investment in wide format textile print technology and software – and being able to combine it with a forward-thinking workflow that’s focused on on-demand delivery for customers big and small. The pyjama fabric is a perfect example of what can be achieved when great vision and design come together – it’s tremendously satisfying to see such an impactful end result. We’re continuing to partner with our ecommerce experts to push that side of the business forward and anticipate further growth on the back of it,’ Thomas concluded.
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LOCAL DISTRIBUTOR |
FRIEDMANS www.friedmans.co.uk
