Business As Usual
18-03-2020
Newsletter 18th March 2020
Dear all,
Business As Usual
With the current uncertainties and warnings around COVID-19, we’d like to reassure all that work and learn with us that the health and safety of all concerned is our top priority.
So far cancellations this week include: Make It British Live at the Business Design Centre, Fabric Appreciation masterclass with Deborah Shulton and the How to Realise Your Goals masterclass with Eric Gilston. As from now we are postponing all external seminars and masterclasses that have not taken place; the Gerber class that commenced on Saturday 14th March will continue for the next two weeks as all learners wish to continue.
Meanwhile it is business as usual for those at the Factory and FTA that are fit and well and long may this continue. Please take good care of yourselves and your loved ones – if we can help in anyway we will! We wish you good health.
FEL collaborates with Maison Velendra
Fashion Enter Ltd’s N17-based Creative Callings is excited and delighted to announce its collaboration with the ground-breaking new design house, Maison Velendra.
Artistic Director Kaushik Velendra is rewriting the future of men’s tailoring with his future focused designs. Keeping his foundation deeply in the heart of tailoring and Indian craftmanship, he amalgamates the traditions of tailoring with active-wear and accelerates this concept into a future sphere of men’s red carpet dressing.
Kaushik was able to establish his company after receiving an “Exceptional Talent Visa” in the UK and brings considerable flair and expertise from his training here at Central Saint Martins and previously in India.
This collaboration is about providing a hands-on learning experience in an atelier environment, where industry experts implement entrepreneurial mentorship and help young designers of the future, supported by Haringey Council; such as for example, local resident Marquel Williams who has already completed his studies at FEL’s FTA and is now a student at Central Saint Martins. It will also be pioneering new sustainable ways of manufacturing that eliminate excess inventory in a “make it or miss out” discipline.
“Collaborations and mentorships are the key to success for any new designer and I would like to acknowledge Haringey Council and the GLA’s foresight in opening a state of the art Tailoring Academy for a future generation of tailors. It is the start of a new future of the manufacturing of tailoring,” explains Kaushik Velendra.
“We are so delighted to have Maison Velendra support our Tailoring Academy. Kaushik has a visa from the UK government for his exceptional talent, leading the way forward in fashion today for his menswear creations. Kaushik has the most incredible attention to detail within his bespoke tailoring designs, so for our learners to have the opportunity of being mentored by him is one unique opportunity! ” Added Jenny Holloway, CEO, Fashion-Enter Ltd.
Interactive Online Learning – VocTech Trust
Fashion-Enter Ltd was thrilled to be awarded a small grant to trial a new way of learning technical skills for this digital age. It is well documented that the garment manufacturers of today have an aging workforce – those that still have British stitchers tend to be 55-years + and the younger machinists are from 30-years + from Eastern Europe mainly. This is where the Fashion Technology Academy is absolutely vital for the future – we are trying to attract a new generation of stitchers!
We have excellent success and completion rates with our Level 1 and 2 courses but the younger learners are so tech savvy that they kept asking for more resources to review online…how could we say no!
After securing the bid with UFI we have created three state of the art videos that provide interactive learning and assessment for stitching skills and machine maintenance. It’s a new inspiring way to learn.
Here is Julia Jeans, Lead Market Researcher on the programme from UCL, interviewing two participants of the test run for the videos.
The only way is up! Exciting times lie ahead.
This Week’s Inspirational Individual: Flora
Meet Flora from South Sudan, Flora has had to deal with so much in her early life from war, an arranged marriage to gun violence. Fast forward to today and she is now blossoming on the Level 1 Stitching course at the FTA. Hear about Flora’s story via this short You Tube video: https://youtu.be/P0JTqrdfsdU It is truly wonderful to see her open up and do well.
Haringey Panel & Networking Event
On Saturday 14th March our CEO Jenny Holloway represented Fashion-Enter Ltd and the N17 Creative Callings programme, supported by Mayor of London & the European Union, at a free and informative panel and networking event at Marcus Garvey Library in Haringey.
The event was specifically aimed at small businesses, aspiring entrepreneurs and those that are interested whilst also celebrating Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day.
Despite all the current concerns over coronavirus there was a strong turnout, Jenny Holloway commented:
“There was some excellent guest speakers putting their heart and soul into the event, explaining how they set up their businesses from social entrepreneurs through to inspiring females, such as Zena Edwards, poet, she sang some poetry and you could hear the hush in the crowd, it was absolutely amazing.
“Big thank-you to Haringey Council for organising the event, we met so many interesting and varied people and many expressed an interest in going to the N17 Creative Callings programme. This is a unique programme and particularly pertinent for these changing times, whereby we can offer one-to-one mentoring for the next two-years to get that business started.”
New To the FTA Team: Louis…
I’m very happy to be introducing myself as the newest member of the FTA team where I will embark on a new adventure in education.
My background is in the fashion and retail industry working for brands such as Hemyca, Joseph, Hobbs and Precis in the UK, Orsay in France and Future Style Lab in India. I’ve been very fortunate over the past 10 years as I’ve been able to work across different markets around the world and have continually been involved with the full life cycle of products as a womenswear designer and product developer. I’ve also been able to develop teaching skills whilst training and coaching my teams in different roles as I grew in various companies, which is how I find myself here today.
I came across Fashion-Enter, FashionCapital and the FTA two years ago and have followed the business ever since. When I visited late last year for a workshop, I was blown away by the energy of the building and the exciting, positive atmosphere coming from the people all around.
Throughout my career I’ve learnt a great deal of how important each stage of the product development cycle is, from working collaboratively with everyone involved within that process. Listening and learning from one another is how we’ll be able to face the great changes in the retail sector that have and will only continue to grow, challenging us all to think and work differently to make fashion a healthier business for people and environment.
The most important tools we have are our skills and the ability to forever develop those as our industry evolves and becomes more digitised. Skills sharing and local craft are hot topics at present and I believe the desire to learn and support these will only continue to grow; therefore I’m thrilled to be a part of that movement here at the FTA.
TR Pattern Cutting Taster
Last Saturday Claudette Joseph was back for her popular TR Pattern Cutting taster class. She said: “Great TR origami taster session with these ladies, look what they created in 90 minutes.” Tap this link to view the next session, please note dates may possibly change due to current circumstances.
Masterclasses Cancelled for Now
All FashionCapital masterclasses will be rescheduled for a later date. Please check back or email us for further information: beth@fashion-enter.com
Thank-you for your understanding.
Fabric Swatch of the Week
Making therapy – time to get stitching and de-stress! We’ve picked out this vibrant teal jersey, easy to work with and a great colour for the warmer months ahead. Available from the FC Fabric Studio at £4 a metre.
This Week on FashionCapital.co.uk
Find out how the Government is supporting the UK during this current COVID-19 outbreak.
Read all about the latest N17 Creative Callings session on ‘What is Happening in Fashion Today’ with guest speaker Caren Downey.
And Finally…
It’s #GlobalRecyclingDay – Leftover fabric scraps from our Factory and FCFabric Studio are always put to good use; from practice swatches for our FTA learners to designers wanting to recreate the materials into something new. We also donate leftover fabric to charities such as this one:
Stay safe!
