All of Fernando Padilla's contributions to the trade have been industry-first!With around 30 years in the apparel embellishing industry, Fernando Padilla, Founder & CEO of GarmentPrinter.com, has been recognized as a global innovator and leader in his field. After graduating in 1988 with a BA in Electronic Engineering, he has held key positions with global industrial embroidery equipment manufacturers & distributors. Examples include: Barudan America in NC, Tajima West in Los Angeles CA, & Hirsch International in Hauppauge NY. When the North American Free Trade Act changed the apparel manufacturing landscape in the USA in 1999, Fernando formed Stitch City Industries, an international export company of preowned embroidery machines. Shortly after the company was formed Fernando garnered the attention of Brother International.In 2005 Brother International unveiled the world’s first Direct To Garment (DTG) printers (machines designed to digitally print multicolor images directly onto a t-shirt). While serving as a top Brother distributor, Padilla recognized the new “On Demand” trend affecting the apparel market. With years of intimate knowledge of the apparel decorating sector, he put in many long hours of sketching, development and trial and error. “I began focusing on the tooling needed to make this technology 'do tricks' while differentiating the company.” Padilla explained. “Needless to say, it's paying off!” This move proved to be a game changer. Fernando Padilla is now recognized as patented innovator of garment printing technology. One of his key patented inventions, Custom Converse Shoe Printing system, aired on ABC’s popular show “Shark Tank” which immediately solidified his mark in the apparel decorating and customization world.