Britain: It’s in the Making – The Huffington Post
October 12, 2024 - October 12, 2024
Eleanor O’Neill reviews and includes Fashion Enter factory for The Huffington Post, 13th July 2016…
Eleanor writes:
”˜I’ve mentioned before the extreme disconnect between the wearer of a garment and its maker, but it is just as common today to find a designer who cannot cut a pattern or stitch a seam.
”˜Right now, the story of our clothing is less about investing in luxury and skill, and more about fine tuning a process of passive production. One person designs, one person makes, another thinks about who’s going buy it and when, someone else sells it and then someone else analyses its success. No wonder the industry as a whole is in crisis.
”˜Enter Fashion Enter ”“ the thoroughly modern British factory.’
”˜Enter Fashion Enter – the thoroughly modern British factory. Situated in North London, they produce clothing for ASOS, the M&S ”˜Best of British’ line and, more recently, London born brand Finery, as well as smaller start up labels. But what makes them different is their investment in apprenticeships, skills and education alongside manufacture.
”˜Forget the bleak stigma attached to a factory environment and think clean, airy, light filled spaces.
Fashion Enter Factory
”˜The aim of their Fashion Technology Academy (the UK’s first technical academy offering eight qualifications on the garment life cycle) is to keep clothing manufacturing skills alive in the UK. And it is hugely apparent that today there are not enough British people with the high level of manufacturing expertise required.
”˜From short term stitching, pattern cutting and production skills classes to 24 month long apprenticeships, expert advice is available from technicians who’ve run their own factories, to seamstresses from iconic brands like Vivienne Westwood. The knowledge they have and experiences they are able to draw on, give a new generation the skills to move the industry forward.’
To read the full article please click here
Many thanks to Eleanor O’Neill, founder and designer at study 34, for the fantastic article.
