Wednesday 16th January 2019

Dear all,

The overwhelming rejection of the PM’s Brexit deal made history in the Houses of Parliament last night. With the government and the possibility of an alternative deal hanging in the balance UK business leaders have expressed frustration and anger with the government failing to reach a compromise. Our CEO Jenny Holloway comments:

“I think for UK manufacturing it’s a positive with or without Brexit. Our enquiries are at an all time high because retailers need little golden nuggets of newness and that can only be achieved from the UK with UK fabrics. Leicester is thriving with fabric developments.

“We can make British manufacturing great again. Whilst we may never return to the heady days where M&S was 94% British made we can see an increased percentage of production from the UK and ASOS.com have very much proved that this model works.  We can turn around new product development from idea creation to delivery within just 3-4 weeks for a brand new idea and just two weeks for repeats.  No other country can offer that speed of response.

“Every cloud has a silver lining and we have to make this work which ever way the vote goes.”  

Just out is Jenny’s insightful Podcast interview with Kate Hills from Make It British. Talking fast response fashion, starting the factory and in-house label: Belles of London, Kate describes Jenny as one of the ‘trailblazers in re-shoring manufacturing back to the UK.’

Click here to listen to the podcast

This morning, 16^th January, Jenny headed over to the bi-annual Fashion SVP trade show to discuss the topic Sustainability in Fashion – ‘How to Balance People, Planet and Profit’. Followed by a Fashion Station slot that offers invaluable advice and guidance where Jenny can offer her expertise on working with an ethical factory – transparency explained.

Fashion District, an ambitious new hub for London’s fashion industry will be up for discussion during Pure London’s February trade show also at Olympia. As a part of Fashion District initiative Fashion-Enter is currently developing the Tailoring Academy in Haringey, alongside its existing Fashion Technology Academy. This and many other Fashion District projects will be revealed in a panel discussion at Pure London on Tuesday 12^th February.www.purelondon.com

Fashions Finest runs in line with London Fashion Week and provides emerging brands a platform to showcase their designs and network with industry experts. Back again on the 16th February 2019 Fashion Enter and the Fashion Technology Academy will be there to promote the support services and courses we provide. The event will take place at Congress Centre, 28 Great Russell St. London WC1B 3LS to find out more click here.

Denise Robinson, National Career Service advisor at Medina Road JobcentrePlus visited the Fashion Technology Academy she commented: “I always refer customers to join the Stitching Academy Level 1 course but I had never visited the FTA before. I am really impressed with the training facilities! All the customers I have referred are very happy they have joined and even though some of them had sewn, made clothes and designed clothes previously, they learned something new every day. Fashion Enter is a fabulous place and I am so glad I was able to visit. I shall continue to encourage my customers to study here.”

If you would like to enrol on the Stitching Academy Level 1 (Beginners) or Level 2 courses then the next intake commences from Monday, 18^th February 2019.Click here to find out more.

And the next intake for Perfect Patterns Level 1 and Level 2 is due to commence from Monday, 11^th February 2019.

Click here to find out more about the Perfect Patterns courses

As we mentioned previously secondary school teacher Mrs Piazza, formerly Ms Chambers, visited the factory and FashionCapital HQ towards the end of last year. The meeting was to discuss an upcoming monthly vlog which will round up fashion industry news and future apprenticeship programme opportunities for Windsor Girls’ students. Here’s coverage of the meeting featured in the schools newsletter. We look forward to meeting and showing Windsor Girls’ students around the factory and FTA soon.

Meet Salvatore, he initially studied tailoring in his home country, Italy, where he developed a passion and skill for the bespoke, handcrafted technique. He soon discovered however that it was in London with the Fashion Technology Academy where he could gain hands-on experience on how the real heritage industry works.

Salvatore said: “Rebecca is a very good tutor, she has taught me secrets and tricks of the trade I would never have learnt before this course.”

He is due to complete the 18-week course next month and his plans are to move back to Italy where he now feels much more confident in his ability to achieve a successful career as a tailor.

To find out more about our Bespoke Tailoring courses click here

To find out more and book click here.

Plus…

interactive masterclasses:

How to Build A Successful Brand with Caren Downie 31st January

How to Do Your Own PR with Rosie Davies 21st February

 

We now have February dates for the next Gerber Accumark Digital Pattern Making for Beginners course. The three-day course takes place on Saturday’s from 10am – 3pm and knowledge gained in Gerber is considered a valuable asset by industry.

The February three-day course takes place on 2nd, 9th and 23rd February click here for more details.