A Part of History – Making Costumes for the Commonwealth Games 2022

Over the years the Fashion Studio team at Fashion-Enter Ltd have been fortunate enough to be involved with some memorable and unique projects. This includes creating garments for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies in London.

This year, 2022, the team were approached again to make a number of boiler suits for the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Of course the team were thrilled to be involved in this little slice of history and they did an amazing job of fulfilling the brief to an excellent standard. The boiler suits designed by Michael Sharp included many design details and were worn by a large troupe of various sizes, including Stella, the main character in the Opening Ceremony story.

Tahra Zafar, Head of Costume, Hair and Make-Up for the Commonwealth Games / Birmingham Ceremonies commented:

“I first met Jenny Holloway when I was Head of Costume Hair and Make-up on the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies. As UK tax payers were paying for the Games I set myself a personal goal to make sure UK and local companies would benefit from supplying the 23,000 costumes we needed creating for the four shows. Fashion Enter was top of the list of those to approach to get involved.

“Jenny’s vision and passion for training and creating a new generation of UK  tailors, graders, studio assistants and stitchers is truly inspirational. Every time I visit the site in North London there are new things to see, new courses and mentoring schemes, assisted by new cutting edge technology. 

“Naturally when I took the role of Head of Costume, Hair and Make-up for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham I contacted Jenny and was delighted when they could manufacture a whole set of costumes for us. The work that Fashion Enter produces is always fantastic quality. The team who supervise and make sure delivery happens are all on it. 

“Jenny’s vision of how UK garment fashion and manufacturing can stand alongside other manufacturing industries in the UK is inspirational and unparalleled. Her more recent ventures in Newtown and Leicester are clear examples of her seeing, listening and helping. She cares about the industry and all those who work in it.” 

Fashion-Enter CEO Jenny Holloway added: “We have a talented team at the Fashion Studio, they really can turn around any garment from lingerie to haute couture. In this case it was boiler suits in several sizes and myself and the team were thrilled to see them being worn at the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. They looked ‘spot-on’ in terms of styling and fit and featured additional hand painted designs. Well-done to all involved and to Tahra and the design team for successfully executing their creative vision. It has been fantastic to be involved in this part of British sporting history.”