Your Tailoring Academy Has Arrived!

In March 2018 we announced that we (Fashion-Enter ltd) had been awarded ‘Good Growth Fund’ and Haringey Council funding to expand our educational offer to include a Tailoring Academy. This week, 14th November 2019, we are thrilled to reveal that the Tailoring Academy will officially open!

The launch coincides with the ESF-supported skills programme N17 Creative Callings, supported by Mayor of London and the European Union, to boost creative industries based within Tottenham’s Creative Enterprise Zone.

The Tailoring Academy is a state-of-the-art clothing manufacturing and training facility based in the heart of Haringey which will provide specialist skills, job training and apprenticeships for local and London-wide residents in the clothing manufacturing and fashion sector. In addition, it will produce mid and high-end tailored clothing for major retailers and fashion brands such as ASOS.com, Brora and designer brands.

Additional funding and support has been generously provided by Clothworkers’ Foundation, Optitex EFI, Vetigraph, Gerber Technologies, Eastman Staples, K Sewing, Rupitex Fabrics, Marcos Trimmings and Telestia.  

Under the Fashion District umbrella The Tailoring Academy is part of a cluster of academic institutions and businesses working together, including Monier Road at Fish Island, Hackney Wick and Poplar Works, to ensure skills development, employment and growth in East London’s fashion and manufacturing sector. The high quality learning facility will also work alongside the Tottenham Creative Enterprise Zone (CEZ), a dedicated Good Growth Fund boost to the areas’ creative industries, as well as the N17 Creative Callings business support programme.

• The creative industries are now Tottenham’s fastest growing sector, experiencing growth of 127% over the last five years and accounting for 4,400 jobs and 660 businesses. 
• Nearly a fifth of employment in Tottenham (17%) is in sectors which relate to creative activity.
• If these growth rates continue, it is estimated that 300 new creative jobs could be created each year, generating additional GVA of £26m p.a. (based on London’s average productivity in the creative sector).

According to Data from Oxford Economics, 2018, the UK fashion industry currently contributes £32bn to the British economy and employs approximately 890,000 individuals; this is a new growth market and as such skilled labour is in short supply; the new Tailoring Academy and the associated Fashion District programmes will aid in creating centres of training excellence for a new generation of skilled practitioners. 

In 2017 Fashion-Enter was named as the preferred training provider for The Savile Row Bespoke Association and now implements Bespoke Tailoring training from Levels 2 & 3 as well as the ABC Level 5 Diploma. The bid to develop a dedicated Tailoring Academy situated a few doors away from Fashion Enter’s main hub in North London seemed like the next logical step.

The Tailoring Academy, Unit 5, Crusader Estate, comprises of a 11,500 square foot space fully equipped with the latest tailoring machinery.

Predicted outputs from the launch date to 2022 include:

• 50 new jobs directly created – and enable 500 indirect jobs to be created in Haringey by the borough’s clothing manufacturing sector through supply chain
• 100 Level 5 apprenticeships – including apprentice places provided by the internationally renowned Savile Row Bespoke Association
• 630 accredited apprenticeships
• Private sector co-funding of £500,000 – £1m over 3 years

Jules Pipe, Deputy Mayor for Planning, Regeneration and Skills, said:

“Fashion manufacturing is seeing a resurgence in this area of London, and this project will make a big difference in ensuring that trajectory continues. The Fashion Tailoring Academy will upskill London’s next generation of makers – whether starting their own businesses, or joining the skilled workforce required by modern manufacturers.”

CEO of Fashion-Enter, Jenny Holloway added: 

“The continual rising of demand for UK manufacturing has created a skills gap that has been part-supported by the Fashion Technology Academy but now finite skills are required for Tailoring. When I was a buyer for M&S we bought tailoring extensively from the UK – these days are surely going to return and the Tailoring Academy will be the perfect learning environment for specialised fine skills required in pattern making, cutting and tailored stitching. Sincere thanks to everyone who has made the Tailoring Academy opening possible.”

The Tailoring Academy is a part of Fashion-Enter ltd and its divisions: Fashion Technology Academy, Stitching Academy, The Factory, Fashion Studio, FC Fabric Studio, FashionCapital and Belles of London.

The Tailoring Academy will have an official launch on Thursday 14^th November from 18:00 – 21:00 and will include industry guest speakers: Nick Beighton – CEO ASOS.com (pictured right), Debbie Jackson – Interim Executive Director of Development, Enterprise and Environment at the Greater London Authority, Denise Watson – Current learner at the Fashion Technology Academy with high aspirations for her future, Marquel Williams – Former learner, apprentice and now designer based in Tottenham’s Creative Enterprise Zone and Jenny Holloway  – CEO of Fashion-Enter ltd.