Many thanks to The American Intercontinental University (AIU) for hosting an exciting Delivery Day yesterday – it makes you realise what talented people there are in the educational system waiting to emerge into the dynamic world of fashion. However, did you realise that each year there are 3,000 students that leave FE and HE institutions and enter the clothing and textile industry? There is certainly some over capacity but that is where Robin Dutt, journalist, designer,style advisor and lecturer and Gill Stark, Head  of Fashion Faculty at AIU  have proposed new concepts to ensure a successful way forward for their students. This also helps to explain the phenominal increase in use of www.fashioncapital.co.uk with its popular jobs board https://www.fashioncapital.co.uk/component/option,com_simpleboard/Itemid,64/func,showcat/catid,5/  We received some great feedback from the Delivery Day at AIU. 

Katy Lee commented “The people speaking were so willing to provide us with so much information and all the information was relevant and useful”

Mary Anne Syhongpan “I think you guys are doing a great job”

Aviva Babins “It covered all aspects of interest and gave me insight into how my learning is applied to the real world”

We did have a great negative comment though from Alaina Wong who listed under “Which areas do you think the LFF could improve?” Alaina wrote “Business Cards”!! I do agree here Alaina! 

Some of the students are returning to America, Canada, Belgium etc and the LFF is going to continue to work with the students who can report back from far off countries and their entries will go live on www.fashioncapital.co.uk. Very exciting!

Some of the work showcased by the students is displayed below.

We realised how important it is to provide quality information at www.fashioncapital.co.uk and in particular we want to make it as easy as possible for you to find the correct information as succinctly as possible. In the past we have received numerous enquiries regarding fashion courses and what universities offer in fashion, textile,design etc. Stephanie has now finished compiling an amazing piece of work. On the learning zone we have itemised all the fashion courses that are available throughout the FE and HE institutions and then provided full contact details to make finding the right course for you simple and effective! To go straight to this new service please click here https://www.fashioncapital.co.uk/index.php?option=content&task=view&Itemid=27&id=4661/27/

We are cranking up nicely for Graduate Fashion Week this Sunday – if any of you are going please come and visit us on our stand, number 110a and say hello. It’s a great event and I recently had the pleasure of meeting Terry Mansfield the Vice Chairman who has a host of new initiatives for the future of GFW. The LFF will be working in collaboration with GFW in the near future.   

The High Street misery continued in May with retail spending falling again for the third consecutive month. The CBI reported that a net 7% of retailers reported lower sales than a year ago which actually surprised me – I thought there would be a far higher %! However the most important statistic to consider is the three month moving average which has revealed that retail sales are at their weakest since September 1992 – this was when we had Black Wednesday and the economy was spiralling into recession….now there’s a cheery thought! Along with the single currency euro dropping to a low of $1.2345 due to the French No vote on the European Union constitution there could be cause for concern but fear not The London’s Capital Confidence Index (a poll of almost 900 accountants) is up beat at 7.6 compared to 1.7 for the nation. So what does all this really mean?!

In a nutshell there are opportunities out there and we basically have to grab them and make the most of them. Pure and simple. At FashionCapital we have had a marked rise in the hit rate on the on-line boutique, which I personally believe is the way forward for smaller designers and manufactures. The consumer of today wants newness, something unique but does not have the time to trawl around the high street. More and more people are now e-commerce literate and are confident to purchase online…..so what are you waiting for? Start your FREE online boutique today and start trading. For further information here contact the lovely- jubbly Vanessa on 020 8462 1475. 

Remember, also, for new and emerging designers of ladieswear, menswear and accessories we now have Profile 6 live and confirmed for September 20th and 21st. We have already had a host of applications hitting the door mat so please ensure you have your entries sent off ASAP. Many congratulations to Claire Evans who was the Profile 5 winner for Ladieswear. She has recently won The Wales Entrepreneur of the year Award with Shell Livewire. Now, not that I am biased(!), but I really feel as though Profile helped to contribute to this award for Claire….could you be the next season’s Profile 6 winner?! Click here to register for Profile 6. Many congratulations Claire.

https://www.fashioncapital.co.uk/images/stories/profile%206/Profile6ApplicationForm.pdf

Claire Evans

Until next time – have a good week.

Jenny Holloway

Industry Advisor