Angelo Barzaghi came to the world of printing and personalisation through photography. Back in 1987, in Cesano Maderno, in Brianza, Barzaghi set up a darkroom in his parents' cellar that he soon extended with a screen printing carousel and a small oven, allowing him to do his first graphic and printing work.

Shortly after, he set out on his professional journey, which has always been a family affair: the first company which Barzaghi took to the market, Sericol, was actually registered under his wife’s name, Paola Colombo: "Those were the days when I was working in a bank during the day and doing screen printing at night. We started customising fabrics for umbrellas, and then continued with glass objects, metal plates and a series of accessories, bags and clothing, especially sportswear. This path has also led us to collaborations in the high-end sector," he says.

As the company's expertise grew, so did the number of its customers, which, in 1994, prompted Barzaghi to move to a warehouse in nearby Bovisio Masciago, where he installed his first large carousel (60x90) with six-colour registration. “That equipment enabled us to work on cut material of almost any kind, from organic fabrics to synthetics such as viscose and polyamides. In addition, with the help of the first graphic software, we specialised in digitally processing new patterns and designs for fabrics," he recalls.

Fast forward to 2003-2004 and the first carousel was joined by a second, more modern and streamlined version, which meant that the Barzaghis and their company (whose name, in the meantime, had changed to Axp) could divide the business into two separate departments, one for screen printing and pad printing objects, and the other for flat printing. It was in this period that the company acquired some big names in the fashion world as customers, such as Valentino and Celine for umbrellas and Just for you for clothing, as well as the dioceses of Milan, Como and Varese: "When a new saint was proclaimed or someone was blessed, the panels that were hung outside St. Peter's Basilica and the other large churches were ours," Barzaghi remembers proudly.

In 2008, globalisation may have opened the doors of the world to Italian companies, but it also exposed them to phenomena such as dumping and often ruthless price competition. Barzaghi did not lose heart – instead he took advantage of the opportunity to make a decision that was to prove a turning point for his business; he went into training, where he was very much the forerunner of a trend that in just a few years would be forced on almost all companies in the sector.

So, firstly on the outskirts of Modena and then in the town he calls his own, Bovisio (where production would cease definitively in 2018/19), he set up his fledgling Accademia Serigrafica, immersing himself with ever greater intensity in the new role of coach. He was aided by his experience in not only the technical aspects but in soft skills such as communication between the different departments of large companies – something that is often lacking. Barzaghi explains: "I'm a pure trainer, I don't train on the basis of products, but on technique and people. While I help to identify the best products for different situations, when I join a company I never offer my own or my partners' products without a precise reason. Because the skill of a trainer lies precisely in their ability to make things work with the means available."

Of course, these are challenging times – aside from the pandemic (which did however pave the way for online training), there is no shortage of perfect storms and competition from DTF is making itself felt. Nevertheless, Angelo Barzaghi continues in his cultural mission (very much the right term), which over the years has already seen him dispense his knowledge to about 600 students and sixty companies. Screen printing remains his primary focus, a subject on which he has already written two essays – with a third in preparation – and whose merits he summarises in a brief family anecdote: "About 20 years ago, when my son was little, we used to watch wrestling together on TV. Every time Eddie Guerrero or John Cena came out in new kit, I would make a screen printed T-shirt for my son, with the same design. And you know, for over 20 years those prints held up to thousands of washes."