Proud to be SMETA Approved

Newsletter 27th April 2022

News from the Fashion-Enter Family

Haringey

Proud to be SMETA Approved

On the 6th April SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit) auditor Peter Warbrick spent a full day at Fashion-Enter Ltd’s factory and HQ in Haringey going through the company’s labour standards and health and safety. 

Fashion-Enter Ltd has been SMETA audited in the past and we are pleased to announce that the audit went extremely well. The auditor had nothing to add to the corrective action plan and was fully satisfied that:

• Excellent human resource policies and practices are in place.
• A site tour concluded that robust measures to ensure workers’ health and safety are being adhered to
• And that all Fashion-Enter Ltd workers receive wages well above the legal minimums.

This is excellent news for Fashion-Enter Ltd, big thanks to TJ Hussein, Fashion-Enter Ltd’s HR & Compliance Officer.

PPE Workwear Repair Course 

Yesterday and today (26 – 27 April 2022) Fashion-Enter in collaboration with the Textile Services Association (TSA) held its first ever PPE Workwear Repair Training course and it has been a big success so far. 

Fashion-Enter Ltd CEO Jenny Holloway said: “We’ve been working with the TSA for the best part of two years and it’s great to see how well received the course was yesterday. This two-day course provides practical industrial stitching skills for complete beginners up to experienced machinists. Industry working together for higher level skills! Marvellous!

For the next course details please contact: shyju.skariah@tsa-uk.org 

Career Opportunity with LeMieux

A fantastic opportunity has arisen for a Full Time Junior Garment Technologist to join the LeMieux team based in the Southampton area, assisting in the creation of new horse and rider wear for LeMieux, one of the fastest growing equestrian and country lifestyle brands in Europe. For more information about this job and how to apply tap here.

Fashion-Enter CEO Panellist at ESG Conference by Matrix Chambers

Yesterday, 26th April 2022, the Environmental, Social and Governance Conference by Matrix Chambers brought together experts in industry to explain how ESG issues practically impact their sectors and lawyers to discuss how these changes should factor in the advice provided to clients. Fashion-Enter’s CEO Jenny Holloway was invited as a panellist on the session discussing “Fast fashion and its implications in an ESG context”.

Jenny comments: “Thank-you to Jessica Simor for inviting me to speak to a cross section of barristers and solicitors; all wanting to understand what sustainability in fashion looks like today. Similar to the banks, the audience advises senior retailers and investors on best practices. Being at the raw end in manufacturing we know our onions!  We know exactly where sharp practices occur and we say! Great to meet such a wide range of people.”

Fashion Studio Clients – Last Call to Pick Up Fabrics

Over the last 17-years we have grown enormously at the Fashion Studio (FS) resulting in a pile up of various oddments and end of roll fabrics from clients past and current. 

The FS team have spent 3-months emailing and phoning clients with regards to picking up their items, along with posting generic emails and notices in the weekly newsletter, however now we need to clear the decks! 

THE LAST DAY TO COLLECT YOUR FABRICS / ITEMS IS FRIDAY 29^th April 2022.

Please urgently contact antoinette@fashion-enter.com and confirm your fabrics for collection. We regret we cannot post fabric so please arrange collections. 

Any remaining fabrics/items will be donated to the Stitching Academy to be used by students or will be donated to local charities / upcycing projects. 

CPPD’s and Educational Tours

The team has been busy this week with groups of design students from the London College of Fashion touring the factory and gaining firsthand experience of fashion production in action. For many this is the first time in a factory and it really illustrates how design affects construction and production further down the line.

Feedback included:

“It was my first time in a garment manufacturer’s and I learnt very much about the process as well as the digital systems which was very interesting. A lot of nice examples and useful information was shared.”

“I really liked today’s experience and understanding of garment production. I will be more practical when I design in the future. Thank-you!”

“Nice seminar. I learnt a lot in the 2-hours. It was quite a meaningful experience for me.”

Tap here for more on educational tours.

FCDesigner Workspace & Collective Islington

Repair & Upcycle Day this Friday

This Friday 29th April join the team at the FC Designer Workspace on Durham Road, N7 for a FREE repair and upcycle open day. Bring items from home to work on and learn basic repair techniques on industrial sewing machines. 

For those that are interested we will also provide further information about the stitching and patterns courses we hold at the Workspace along with all our facilities/equipment available to rent. 

To RSVP contact: fcdesignerworkspace@fashion-enter.com or drop in on the day from 10am – 2pm.

Celebrate with Diva Choice This Saturday!

On Saturday the founder of Diva Choice, Tricia Blake, is celebrating her brand’s 10th anniversary with an in-store event. Join the celebration at the FC Designer Collective on Fonthill Road from 12.30 – 5pm there will be cupcakes, cocktails, music and some special Diva Choice offers alongside our in-store designers.

This event has been featured in the Islington Gazette.

Sell on SilkFred.com

On Tuesday 10th May the FC Designer Workspace will be welcoming brand scouts from the highly successful etail site SilkFred. Selling over 800 independent womenswear brands SilkFred provides brands a huge opportunity to reach a massive online audience! 

The scouts will explain how brands can apply to sell on SilkFred and once approved how to set up their own shop and start selling! Please note numbers are limited and an application process required. This session is open to accessories and womenswear designers. 

If you would like to attend please email your brand bio, look book, website or selection of images including price points to: FCdesignercollective@fashion-enter.com 

Leicester

Community Renewal Fund – Compliance Support 

As part of the CRF programme, Fashion-Enter are providing free compliance support to enrolled businesses. This is in the form of an 81 point check list and then a corrective action plan is prepared and shared with the business. 

These reviews support a business to get ready for an audit and have been extremely well received. For some businesses this is just a good way to have a health check and make sure they are still on the correct compliance journey. 

TJ – Compliance Manager comments: “It’s great to be back in Leicester this week supporting more factories, this will continue weekly throughout April and May as we offer this support the businesses who are enrolled on the Community Renewal Fund.” 

Fashion Revolution 

Great to see our Leicester factories showing their support of this annual campaign;  Print a Print and Barcode Design leading the way! 

Dorcas Dress Project

Thank-you to Maria  Skoyles for inviting Fashion Technology Academy to attend the launch of Dorcas Dress project at John Lewis in Leicester on Thursday 21^st April.  

Dorcas Dress Project is a UK registered Charity, that work around the world helping people in poverty situations set up enterprise opportunities using their specially designed size adjustable dress that can be worn through all seasons. The design means it can be made in remote parts of the world as only uses a straight stitch sewing machine. It has no zips, buttons or other fastenings. This means the dress can be made in remote parts of the world where access to resources and electricity can be difficult. 

Dorcas have teamed up with a Leicester Manufacturer – DeNovo Apparel (who are part of the CRF Programme). They  have made the dresses in recycled polyester fabric in their Leicester factory. DeNovo are supporting their workers through offering English speaking classes and this project is also supporting garment workers in Leicester by providing evening English speaking classes for them and their families. 

The dresses were styled by Fashion Communication and Styling students from De Montfort University. 

Jackie Manager FCFTA: “It’s fantastic to see a project that can improve the lives of women globally and that positively improves the lives of garment workers and their families. 

The garment workers in Leicester are multi-cultural and English is often not their first language – great to see Denovo apparel providing English lessons for their workforce.” 

Level 1 Award in Workers Rights and Labour Exploitation

At FCFTA Leicester this week we have continued to  deliver SEG ABC Level 1 Award in Workers Rights and Labour Exploitation.

This course covers such essential topics to allow the learner to understand their rights in the workplace covering such areas as how to apply for jobs safely, national minimum wage, holiday pay and reading payslips. The learners are also taught how to identify the main sights of modern slavery and labour exploitation. 

These courses can be delivered in the academy or in a factory/office environment. 

Please contact Jackie@Fashion-Enter.com if you would like to now more about this course and qualification. 

Apprenticeships on Offer in Leicester

We have three positions available for Fashion Studio Apprentices with three Leicester based factories. If you are interested in pursuing a career in the creative side of fashion this could provide you with an earn while you learn opportunity. Tap here to view the apprenticeships and to apply.

Wales

The Fashion Event – Save the Date 8th July

The Fashion-Enter Ltd team in Wales are gearing up to present an exciting showcase of fashion talent based in the heart of mid-Wales. Fashion-Enter’s manufacturing expertise will combine with creatives from NPTC Group of Colleges – Newtown College and local independent designers.

The day long event will be open to local schools, where there will be informal sessions on the garment making process, manufacturing, skills and careers in the fashion industry. 

Two fashion shows will take place showcasing a diverse range of design talent, created in collaboration with the manufacturing team at Fashion-Enter Ltd and utilising the innovative Kornit Digital Presto printer. The day will culminate in a grand finale at 7pm with a party. 

For further information please contact: annabellalewis@fashion-enter.com 

Novel Yarn Research Continued

This week Eddie Bebb, Commercial Manager at Fashion-Enter Ltd in Wales has been researching the urgent need for the fashion and textile industry to address the unsustainable patterns of production and consumption in the fashion industry. Along with the issue of cost and how the current recycled and sustainable clothing market is only available in the mid to high price bracket. All the research gathered on a weekly basis will support the development of our in-house novel yarn that will combine Welsh wool with recycled fibres. To view the research on this project to date tap here.

Fashion Revolution & Learn to Stitch with Us

Last week the team supported the Fashion Revolution campaign and posted images of staff holding up the ‘I Made Your Clothes’ slogan.

If you would like to learn how to stitch the FTA in Wales can now offer courses in Level 1 and 2. The Level 1 has been running  since the beginning of the year and we have just received the green light to recruit for the Level 2. 

If you are interested in learning from the best seamstresses, some of whom are ex-Laura Ashley staff with more than 30-years’ experience, then please contact: info@fashion-enter.com

Masterclasses and Courses

Ongoing Stitching, Patterns and Tailoring Courses

How to Grow Sales downloadable masterclasses with Carley Johnson

1-Day Telestia Taster (14th May)

Leicester – Manufacturing Meet & Greet event (16th June)

Fabric Swatch of the Week

Think pink this summer with this hot pink chiffon, perfect for a beach cover-up or floaty skirt. Available at the FCFabricStudio at £3.50 per meter.

This Week on FashionCapital…

ASOS may have made a £15.8m pre-tax loss in the six months to the end of the February, compared with a £106.4m profit a year earlier but this forward-thinking brand has future strategies up its sleeve. 

And Finally…

We’re so proud of our former FTA student @aimeejoycelondon. Last week she showcased her beautiful collection in an artful and stylistic presentation on Bond Street. The Aimee Joyce brand reflects timeless heirlooms coupled with romantic beauty. Aimee was a student on the FTA’s Stitching and Pattern Cutting courses. As she gained more skills her talent shone through and we cannot wait to see how her brand develops. Well done Aimee!

Until next time, have a great week.

From the FashionCapital team.