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Dear all,
Last chance for free CAD/CAM Course
The free CAD/Cam course, funded by City Fringe Partnership, is nearing the end of its time but there is still one last chance to take part! As a direct result of this course there is now a job opportunity for one of the 30 participants to work with a supplier. This is fantastic news and is all thanks to City to Fringe Partnership who has made this possible.
If you have taken part in this course and would like further information on this please contact Herve
Seats are limited, and 20 of the placements have been reserved for businesses located in the London Boroughs of Camden, Islington, Tower Hamlets, and Hackney. If you would like further info please contact jenni@fashion-enter.com
Please click here for the course outline
French Fashion Industry
FashionCapital has just returned from a two day extravaganza in Western France for an exclusive visit of the local couture houses. Organised by UBIFRANCE press office in London and APHO – Association for the promotion of the clothing in Western France the press trip for British Media was a fantastic opportunity to review the real French fashion industry.
We visited in total 5 couture houses which produce collections for high-end designers such as Balenciaga, Roland Mouret and Christian Lacroix. We were able to meet with the Directors of each company and were given a guided tour around the workshops to see first hand how the collections were produced from start to finish.
The trip also included a visit to The Lycee de la Mode – College of Fashion in Cholet which offers students a wide range of courses in the fashion industry from design to manufacturing.
A full report with a collection of wonderful trend images can soon be found on FashionCapital
Ms Marie-Therese Grelet, Director of Ateliets Cannelle Couture holding a Roland Mouret dress for his next collection.
Worker at Bocage Avenir Couture ironing a Celine dress
Small retail independent battles with Croydon Council – The David and Goliath of retail
In one of the worst retail and trading environments of our time Croydon Council has become archaic and lethargic in their support for small businesses; as our sister company Fashion Enter Ltd has discovered.
Fashion Enter is a dedicated not for profit company which commenced trading in Croydon in 2006. Director Jenny Holloway explained. "We could have opened our boutique "Enter" anywhere in London but we foolishly chose Croydon as it had recently been awarded a £77m Local Enterprise Grant Initiative that was for the regeneration of Croydon. We had worked for the London Development Agency for six years helping thousands of small businesses to survive and thrive in fashion so to us Croydon seemed the right destination. However the last three years have just been a constant battle with Croydon Council and all we have ever wanted to do was help the small guy on the street to have some hope and positivity for the future."
Dear oh dear Croydon…
I am a resident of Croydon and I have had firsthand experience of the Croydon Enterprise and must admit I was taken in by the PR machine that took place over the years since the Enterprise started its initiative. But since then everyday that I pass through Croydon I am slowly losing confidence of what is unfolding in front of me.
To those that do not live in Croydon, a painting of glossy features and photo happy people in news features, so pleased to be helped by Croydon Enterprise, just does not cut it to me because in reality when you can stand in the middle of the Whitgift centre and see for yourself the aftermath of lack of funding and support from the £77million that was supposed to transform this up and coming city then you will see what I see.
Read more about Fashion Enter designer Kevin Thomas's of SOVA COLLECTION first hand experience of the Croydon conspiracy.
Clothes Show London Last Chance!
The FashionCapital.co.uk has extended the area from featuring 20 stands to an additional 4 due to the astronomical interest in this prestigious show not to be missed. This really is an unexpected and incredible opportunity for those who have previously missed out to showcase at the first Clothes Show in the capital for 20 years. You can either purchase a full stand at 2m x 2m for £989 or half a stand of 2m x 1m at £494.50. If you wish to join the select few in this monumental occasion to utilise the 185,000 savvy London shoppers, hungry to purchase a piece of the finest up and coming designer talent on offer. Contact Emily@fashioncapital.co.uk or on 020 8681 5014 to increase your exposure via the vast audience whilst beating the credit crunch.
Designers chance for £10 000
The Showroom is going from strength to strength in Kingston and it's with great excitement that we can now open a whole range of services thanks to Kingston College. Kinston College is highly respected in the Fashion Industry for its high calibre staff and training and its high success rate. Kingston teaches all aspects of fashion but also the business of fashion which is vital for success for all new graduates today. There has been high capital expenditure at Kingston College Anstee House to offer a full range of machinery for the course including knitting machines (highly sort after by all knitwear designers) and also a textiles printing suite. Fashion Enter is now working collaboratively with Kingston College to offer this extensive range of services to our designers.
Further we have joined up forces with Knowledge Connect to offer up to £10,000 support to enable our designers to use the facilities e.g. creating new innovative excusive screen prints, new knitwear developments and any aspect of new product development.
Hannah Weimers from Knowledge Connect commented:
'KNOWLEDGE CONNECT is a dynamic and practical programme that's helping London's businesses to grow and prosper by connecting them to the knowledge and expertise of the City's universities, colleges and research organisations. This is a major opportunity for your business to develop new products, services and processes whilst drawing on the world-class facilities and expertise of London's knowledgebase. Examples of existing project include product prototyping, print design, packaging development and production management.'
Golden Shears Awards
This year’s Golden Shears Awards was held at the fittingly appropriate Merchant Taylors Hall, quintessentially English in all of its’ historical antiquity the venue is tucked behind the city’s Royal Exchange. FashionCapital was invited to attend to review what the latest Saville Row apprentices had to offer. Full report and images coming soon.
Winner – Rory Duffy – Frockcoat and Kilt in navy/cream window pane tweed
Machines available at The Workshop
There is now a new service available at The Workshop to members. There are now two new machines; an over locker and a lock stitch which members can use for £10 plus VAT per hour. If you are interested in this service please contact info@feworkshop.com
Designer update: Samantha Cole
Ladieswear designer Samantha Cole was one of the designers who asos.com presented an award to at the NY Profile fashion event last September in New York City. Since then it seems Samantha hasn't stopped….
‘I just thought I would share the outcome of the amazing journey I've been on since September and it's all thanks to FashionCapital.'
Since September Samantha has dominated the press and even made the front cover of US fashion magazine Iconography which will be out next week. Other press has included Chow Magazine (below), Anglomania Magazine, Black Beauty Magazine and many more which will all be uploaded onto FC.
She has also been invited to Caribbean Fashion Week and South African Fashion Week which she will be attending in June and most recently has been selected for Dubai Fashion Fiesta (which is their version of fashion week) also in June taking place at the Dubai World Trade Centre an also been invited to show at Boston Fashion Week in September
In the midst of all this Samantha has been appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the Stop Child Hunger Campaign which involves doing shows all over the world to raise funds an awareness of child poverty in Africa a cause which is very close to my heart.
Transgender Mission continues…
After our introduction into the transgendered scene at The Wayout Club, the owner Vicky Lee has since posted this onto her website.
Fashion needs You
‘I can remember when a tranny walked into a female fashion outlet and was met by the disapproving dirty looks of Miss Brahms and Mrs Slocum. Then there was a financial recession and the attitude changed almost immediately with "would you like to try it on and maybe try these shoes with it" tripping off the tongue. Well that was back in the 80s and now in the 00s we are seeing the biggest financial downturn of all time. SO maybe that's why I received an email from Jenni from FashionCapital. To be fair Jenni followed up the email with a visit to The WayOut Club. She is young and feisty and she loved it and proved to be genuinely a fan of the whole transgender concept. This is I feel an indication of how things can take a leap forward. Modern young women can be most supportive and modern young women in business know a market when they see one.'
Please click here for full post
We have now been invited to bring flyers and set up a mini boutique in one of the booths at The WayOut Club which we shall be doing in the next few weeks.
Mother of Love Day
Mother's day is coming up and Fashion Enter Boutique in barking will be having another fun day after the amazing turn out of Portrait of Love on Valentines Day.
On Saturday 21st Mothers and siblings will be invited to have pictures taken whilst indulging in a promotional taster of delicious Coco a Moi chocolates, Pink Non alcoholic Champagne and snack bites including a fantastic bonus offer of a large discount on any pamper therapy treatments of your choice with additional discounts on perfume and other goodies with each designer purchase.
Stylists will also be on standby, as usual for advice on outfits as it's the weekend and anyone looking to hit the town can be assisted in finding the ultimate stand out from the crowd piece guaranteed to turn heads for all the right reasons.
Anybody is welcome to attend as the day will be open to the general public but just with every girl's favourite combination of shopping with the ultimate pampering twist!!
Hair We Grow Competition
Are you an aspiring model looking for the ultimate job to shoot yourself into new realms of stardom? The exciting range of Hair we Grow products is looking for the perfect face to promote the fastest up and coming trend of 2009. The stunning selection of must have hair pieces are available at both Enter Boutiques and have taken the local consumers by storm. We are looking for a young lady to feature on all promotional material such as press releases that will be distributed to our extensive database of retailers, buyers and press, all packaging and on e-commerce sites whilst automatically gaining entry into our Real Women modelling Agency on FashionCapital.co.uk plus a selection of free Hair we Grow Products. This unique and incredible opportunity in terms of exposure to your direct target market and the fantastic chance to be the face of this exciting up and coming label is the ultimate entry into industry. DO NOT MISS OUT and contact hairwegrow@hotmail.co.uk.
Retail Outlook
The controversial fashion brand who introduced the FCUK slogan; French Connection has been grossly affected by the financial turmoil the recession has imposed on the UK which is now the debt capital of Europe with unemployment racking up over the 2million mark. French Connection has made a total loss of £5.5million over the full year ending January 31st; however balance sheets remain strong with net funds at £37.1million. French Connection has also implemented a new cost saving initiative in regards to head office lay offs and discretionary costs. Online fashion is without a doubt the way forward in these times of hardship with John Lewis taking the plunge into the big wide web offering its very own version of global fashion e-tail dominator asos.com which is due to launch in time for the Christmas period.
Free Enter Boutique Designer Shoots
Yes free, free, free… Well until April anyway. Our new fashion studio has been the place for the action this week. Supporting our efforts to place Fashion Enter Boutique at the centre of Centrale's fashion scene, Rodney Compton www.xyris.tv has been offering his photographic services to the members of fashion capital for free. The result: some stunning images of two of our featured designers – Quoot and Nkwo, here are some of the images. Please contact either Emily, Stephanie or Rodney on 020 8681 5014 and 07703191388
   Boutique Pick of Week
As the next batch of our finest Fashion Enter members branch out into the largest and most successful e-commerce boutique the UK has had to offer for the past four years; the prestigious asos.com, we can see exactly why this delectable Belles of London colour block tulip mini dress was selected for the most exciting summer of fashion yet. With the reintroduction of the 80s vibe, bright's are a definite must have whilst the gorgeous silhouette flatters all shapes and sizes either worn as a dress in the heat of summer or to club the night away and can even be worn as a casual top in the day. As the sun begins return for a scorching summer, beat the crowds and watch this space for the ultimate summer piece soon to arrive at Enter Boutique for £55.
Until next time, have a great week
All the team at Fashion Capital x
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