The Evolution of UK Fashion Production 

According the latest report from UKFT.org the fashion and textile industry contributes almost £20bn to the UK economy. This includes everything from designer fashion through to high street fashion, along with textiles production for a wide range of end uses including clothing.  

The fashion and textile industry in England, Wales and Scotland employs 500,000 people, made up of 88,000 employed in manufacturing, 62,000 in wholesale, and 413,000 in retail. After many years of decline, the number of UK garment manufacturers increased by 13% in the ten years to 2020 to 4,005.

Demand for Made in the UK has increased over the last 2-years, with increasing costs due to Brexit, supply chains disrupted due to the Covid pandemic along with environmental and sustainability concerns, Made in the UK has become a lot more viable.

At Fashion-Enter Ltd we pride ourselves on being as ethical and lean as possible, making sure that our factories in London and Wales abide by the principles of lean.

What are the 7 lean principles? They are:

• Eliminate waste.
• Build quality in.
• Create knowledge.
• Defer commitment.
• Deliver fast.
• Respect people.
• Optimize the whole.

However, there are so many operations from end-to-end production starting at idea generation to feedback and review, Fashion-Enter Ltd estimates that there are currently over 132 steps and at each part of the process anything can, and does go wrong. As illustrated by the flow chart communication is key to success. 

    Tap here to view Fashion-Enter Ltd’s Production Flow Chart

In recent years, the pandemic pushed forward a change in consumer behaviour whereby speed-of-response, regular input of newness, evolving bestsellers, personalisation and an interest in brands that are environmentally and socially conscious. With this Fashion-Enter Ltd is moving towards the UK based Micro Factory concept, and this is why the Kornit Digital and Fashion-Enter Ltd event on the 3rd & 4th March is so important 

This event is strictly by invitation only. 

Next we review what the Micro Factory concept is and how you can be a part of this exciting journey in UK fashion manufacturing.