NEWSLETTER 7th January 2015
Dear all,
We hope you had a fantastic Christmas and New Year, 2015 is already shaping up to be a hectic year indeed. This Thursday we have a production company coming in to film our first batch of designers taking part in the BetheBest@NatWest initiative. The footage will be live to view on FashionCapital.co.uk and our social media pages, more on this soon.
Image right: Designer and stylist Michaela Jedinak at the launch of the BetheBest@NatWest concept.
‘New FashionCapital Membership Package’ for 2015
If you have been thinking about joining FashionCapital as a member then now is the time to do it. Offering an invaluable service annual membership with FashionCapital.co.uk is structured to aid emerging and established designers with a cross section of support from a broad range of industry experts.
For a yearly membership you will receive:
Business diagnostics meeting
Discounted rates on mentoring packages
Discounted access to quarterly seminars – ‘How to Succeed in Fashion Today’
10% discounted rates on sampling
Members only access to FashionCapital.co.uk
Intro to industry via FashionCapital.co.uk
Promotional campaign via FashionCapital.co.uk and all viral networks
Weekly newsletter with industry and membership updates
User guide to FashionCapital.co.uk
Reciprocal link
Discounted rates for all events
From 16th January 2015 the yearly rate will increase to £150 plus vat
Sign up here now to receive the current rate of £125 plus vat –
https://www.fashioncapital.co.uk/registration
There will be an open day at The Factory on 15th January 10am – 12pm if you would like to meet with the team, review the sampling and production facilities and learn more about the membership and mentoring packages before joining as a member.
The Factory Open Day 10am – 12pm Thursday 15th January at The Factory, Unit 14, Crusader Industrial estate, 167 Hermitage Road, N4 1LZ
Here are just a few comments from our most recent members:
“I wanted to send you a mail to say thank you for your support and commitment in ensuring we received our SS15 samples within the short period you had to produce them. We are very happy with the samples, which look great for the shoot, and for this weeks’ press days. Once again thank you from the OTHER team.”
“Recently we joined FashionCapital and have mentoring to help us with strategies and manage the teething problems we were experiencing. We chose Carolyn Springett for her excellent knowledge and background in multiple sectors of the fashion industry. Carolyn has been a massive help, she has helped us resolve sampling and manufacturing issues, brought up elements we should think about and built confidence in our decisions. Carolyn has become a valuable source and is our port of call when we need sound advice. As a new company we feel more stable and confident in our actions. Our only regret is we did not take mentoring earlier, thank you Carolyn for all your ongoing help!” Megan
Know Your Factory Seminar
Do you know what to look for and what questions to ask when working with a manufacturer? In this essential workshop we demonstrate the basic process for manufacturing and the key elements to look for:
- Pre – planning the visit, setting an agenda and what you really want to achieve.
- Communicate to the factory and to your own team.
- Tell the factory and confirm orders, getting the right people involved.
- Show respect and understanding and provide feedback to the factory.
- What are the key elements to a costing?
- Cost of fabric (price V’s usage) make-up costs, trims and logistics.
- Types of sampling, design and product development, fits, contract seals.
- How samples are generated?
- Cost of a sample, getting approvals and speed of response and much more!
Know Your Factory Seminar 22nd January from 10am – 12pm
To find out more and book your place contact Jenni Sutton
jenni@fashion-enter.com
Apprenticeship Posts of the Week
We have had some great apprenticeship positions open up with New Look, Dewhirst and The Albion Knitting Company to find out more please visit our Apprenticeship Jobs section.
Stitching Academy Places Available
We have some places available on our highly successful Stitching Academy course. For those at the very beginning of their fashion journey the Stitching Academy is a great place to start. The 6-week course is taught by industry experts based at the Factory and caters for beginners who can then progress to higher qualifications, apprenticeships and job outcomes. The Stitching Academy is an ABC Showcase centre and is also Tick accredited by Creative Skillset, the government body responsible for skills and training in the UK creative industries. We are now enrolling for the next 6-week block to find out more please e-mail: stitching.academy@fashioncapital.co.uk
Reporting from London Collections: Men
The London Collections: Men is just about to open its doors presenting designer pieces for A/W 15/16. From this Friday our team will be in attendance soaking up the latest news, views and trends in menswear

Oliver Spencer SS15
Teach Too Seminar

The Teach Too programme aims to encourage occupational experts from industry to spend time teaching their occupational expertise to others, and to contribute to curriculum development, while continuing to work. It is a key example of ‘two-way street’ collaboration between employers, colleges and training providers based on a shared understanding of the problems to be solved, the potential solutions and the business benefits of working together.
This seminar will explore the Teach Too concept via a selection of guest speakers including our own CEO Jenny Holloway. It will look at ways to get involved and set out the next phase of the programme including the new call for proposals for projects that demonstrate Teach Too in STEM subjects, mathematics, service and emerging sectors for 2015.
Teach Too Monday 19th Jan from 10.30am to 4.30pm at UCL Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London W1.
To register for the event please click here.

On FashionCapital.co.uk This Week…
India Hunnikin takes in the heady world of social media and looks at ‘What’s Trending This Week’. Katie Farley, meanwhile, selects her top trends for this coming spring in ‘Industry’ ‘Trends.’ And hitting the news headlines, in amongst the talk of Christmas sales figures and cut-throat discounting, is the announcement that Bank Fashion has gone into administration.
Boutique Pick of the Week
This week we introduce a new start-up label Knope. Based in South London Knope is a family label that hand makes all their designs. When cutting patterns the team realised just how much fabric gets scrapped, even when waste is kept to a minimum. In order to make their signature Knope cropped sweaters as special as possible they added a hidden extra in every one. So by putting a secret scrap pocket inside the sleeve (big enough for your cash or keys, lipstick or lighter) and using the leftover fabric made sense! It’s a great pattern and helps towards the Knope commitment to reuse, recycle, improve and support zero waste from production. The S/S collection is in progress as we speak, in the meantime here is a hand printed cosy unisex ‘Smiles Go Miles’ sweatshirt. £40- available in medium to extra large.
http://www.knope.london
Until next time, have a great week,
All the team at Fashion Capital x
      
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