Safety First As We Remain Open
11-11-2020
Newsletter 11th November 2020
Safety First As We Remain Open
Fashion-Enter Ltd CEO Jenny Holloway and the Fashion-Enter Ltd team would like to reassure all clients, learners and visitors that both factories in London and Wales will remain open during the second national lockdown. As with the first we have the usual stringent safety measures in place in accordance with government guidelines and safety and wellbeing is our top priority. Manufacturing for clients and PPE continues, while we have moved many of our resources for education and training onto digital platforms so our learners can continue to benefit from their courses.
New Membership Service to Start Your Brand
Over the last lockdown we noticed a steep rise in demand for our webinars and seminars with almost 80 people pre-registering. So many people then asked if we had a membership service so we are now working on a pragmatic and proactive new membership scheme that will include; business bundles – a series of step-by-step guides and templates to creating and launching a fashion label, one-to-one mentoring, a series of downloadable masterclasses and a quarterly online meet-up with a leading industry expert, plus much more!
This is not to be missed for anyone who wants to start the brand on the right lines from day one.
Watch this space!
FashionCapital Becomes An Official Telestia Affiliate
We are delighted to announce that after seven years of working together FashionCapital is now an official affiliate of Telestia, the leading online learning platform for pattern-making and design courses.
Now is the time to upskill or learn a new, unique methodology that will help launch your fashion label or secure the job you want. At the Fashion Technology Academy, we fully endorse and support the Telestia method to attain perfect fit patterns and garments, and now we are bringing to you the four most popular online pattern making and design courses to enable a more flexible approach to learning. In addition, as a FashionCapital subscriber you will receive a 10% discount off each course.
Lean Manufacturing Workshop at the Welsh Factory
On 10th November James Stewart, former Lean Director at Burberry visited the Factory in Wales to deliver a workshop on lean manufacturing with factory managers Eddie and Martin.
The in-depth session covered the three P’s – production, preparation and process. The aim to discover the best possible manufacturing process and significantly reduce the amount of production problems down the line.
The 3 P’s is a high-level sophisticated tool that is built upon an advanced understanding of other lean principles. James explained the eight wastes of lean manufacturing known as the acronym TIM WOODS – Transport – the movement of people, products & information. I – Inventory – storing parts, pieces and preliminary documentation. M – Movement – the activities of the process. W – Waiting – waiting for parts, information, instructions and equipment.
Martin comments: “Today was the first day of the month review of factory layout and efficiency with James. This was an important management review highlighting the importance of lean manufacturing and setting future targets and objectives. The entire team was engaged and thoroughly enjoyed the first session of the training. Thank you James and we look forward to working with you over the next month.”
Regents University Students Take Our Virtual Factory Tour
Yesterday, 10th November, MA International Fashion Marketing students from Regents University attended a virtual tour of the Factory lead by Production Director Caroline Ash. Usually taken place in the live factory environment the factory tours have now been adapted to allow students to experience the site visit from the comfort of their own homes, and although they cannot be there in person the level of information and visual tour of the factory enables them to gain a deep understanding of how an ethical factory operates in the UK. Following the tour Caroline ended the session by answering any questions the students had.
Overall it was fantastically received with students commenting that they had learnt so much in such a short space of time and how it would benefit their studies and understanding of the fashion industry.
Tap here to find out more about our Virtual Factory Tours.
Coming Soon…Factory Outlet Wales
We have been inundated with demand to open up a quality factory outlet in Newtown, Powys, Wales. We have a large space available (12,000 sqft) so we are more than happy to comply. Watch this space – the Factory Outlet will be open next week!
Newtown RFC Badge Competition
Newtown Rugby Club recently launched a competition with Fashion-Enter in Wales to design a logo for their club and the response has been fantastic!
The club is celebrating 50 years since it reformed in 1972, and as they have over 100 children playing rugby, they also have excellent links with local schools. They felt it was a natural place to turn when looking for inspiration to design a new club badge, it also coincided with lockdown and half term in Wales and so they thought it would be a good time to launch a design project, and they were not wrong!
Well done to everyone who entered, there really were some fantastic designs.
Today our factory managers in Wales have been judging the entries and the top five are above. Watch this space for the winning design to be announced!
Private White – Disposable PPE Gowns
Jenny Holloway comments: “We would like to say a big thank-you to Mike Stoll at Private White for the contracts on the disposable PPE gowns over the last six months. It has been a pleasure, so far, to work with the team and our stitchers have enjoyed the continuity of business the orders have provided. Here’s to the next chapter Mike!”
Phasing Deliveries to Ensure Safety
During these COVID times nothing is certain – we are all on a rollercoaster but one thing is certain and that is our loyalty to our hardworking factory staff. We are helping all we can by holding fabric commitments on orders that have been raised; we are phasing back deliveries so we can help the retailer maximise sales after the lockdown but factories have to carry on and pay their staff. In all lean business areas retailers and suppliers and manufacturers have to work as one both in the good times and the bad.
ASOS Tech Team Upskill with Optitex
Four members of the technical team at ASOS recently attended a three-day Optitex course at the Fashion Technology Academy, with senior pattern cutter Claire Solley. The aim was to upskill the garment techs to use the 3D digital design tool in their day-to-day roles at ASOS.
Feedback from the course was fantastic and included:
“I now have extensive knowledge of how to use the system so I can confidently use this for ASOS fit sessions.” – Brittany
“Claire was amazing! I was able to ask lots of questions without feeling embarrassed as she explained extremely well and demonstrated on the screen if needed. She was very friendly and patient. The information provided was very focused to what we do in our roles at work” – Tansey
“I have learnt all the basics of Optitex ready to use in a working environment, I now have a good understanding of what is required and ways to use the system in the best way for me. Thanks Claire, lots of info to take in but really useful and informative!” – Katrina
Optitex is set to become the leading fashion product development tool on the market. To enquire about Optitex courses or services please contact Head Office: 0208 809 3311 / info@fashioncapital.co.uk
Jobs and Apprenticeships
We have job and apprenticeship opportunities available in both London and Wales. Tap here to view the current vacancies.
Courses and Masterclasses
Fabric Swatch of the Week
This week we’ve picked out an 80’s favourite…shoulder pads! Brilliant for creating a structured tailored look, to view and buy these pads visit the FC Fabric Studio.
This Week on FashionCapital.co.uk
Footwear industry ups its ecological ante to speed up sustainability efforts
And Finally…
Good luck to Matthew Lam, our Level 5 Bespoke Tailoring apprentice at Harrods, today he is undergoing his end-point assessment. Matthew’s skills have grown tremendously and we are sure he is going to do really well!
