You can work in the fashion industry for many years, and still not know all there is to know...

Hannah Stewart, a Product Account Manager at a London-based fashion company woke up at 5:30am recently, to travel two and a half hours from her London home to Northampton. She was attending the BLC Leather Technology Centre’s ‘Understanding Leather’ course, led by Barry Wood – a technician who has worked in the fashion industry for over 25 years.

Having graduated with a Fashion Textiles degree and now working predominantly developing leather products, Hannah wanted to deepen her understanding of leather as a material and as an industry. Though she had learned a lot over the course of her career, she felt there were gaps in her knowledge, which she was eager to fill.

She wasn’t alone in feeling this way it seems. On this one-day course, she was joined by representatives from retailers like Next (a sofa restoration company), Harvey Nichols, and an agent’s assistant.

We caught up with her t...

It’s important to remember on this Fashion Revolution Day and the two-year anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster, that unethical treatment of factory workers lives on, and not just in Asian countries.

When the founders of fast fashion brands want speedy service, next-day samples, or low production costs, they head for Leicester factories, according to a Guardian report.

Northern-based UK brands like Missguided and Boohoo are booming and go to factories that can deliver garments quickly and cheaply, in order to satisfy consumers looking for low-cost fast fashion.

Founder and chief executive of Missguided, Nitin Passi, told the Guardian that some Leicester factories can turn samples around in a day. Passi, along with Boohoo co-founder Mahmud Kamani, estimates that over half of the clothes they sell are made in the UK.

Whilst this onshoring at first may appear to be fantastic news for the UK manufacturing industry and therefore the UK economy, a recent report into working conditio...

The changing face of the fashion industry... Years ago, when I had a fashion label and sold to boutiques globally, the seasonal selling formula for a designer was pretty simple and straight forward.

Two collections were delivered per year. The Spring/Summer RTW ("ready-to-wear") garments hit the shop floor in January. Depending on the type of collection produced, the selection would typically include lightweight separates comprising of blouses, skirts, dresses, shorts and a couple of jackets. Autumn/Winter RTW collections were delivered in July. The offering was similar to S/S but with the addition of heavier fabrics, knitwear and coating.

Fashion Industry Challenges

The system, while adequate, had its own set of problems. It was business-driven as opposed to being customer-driven. Customer fatigue would inevitably set in through seeing the same items on the shop floor for 5 long months. In addition to this, it made no sense to be shopping for short sleeved dresses in January when t...

If you’re looking to become a jewellery designer, there are plenty of ways to go about achieving your goal. While there’s no one “right” way to ensure success, there are several early career options for aspiring designers who are looking to make their mark on the jewellery industry. How do you decide which route to take?

The best way to become a jewellery designer will be based on your skills, needs, resources and personality. What works for one person might not be the best plan for you and vice versa.

When you are starting a business in a new field, it is an important time to take stock of who you are and what you have to offer. In doing so, you’ll be able to develop an understanding of the best path to success for your (jewellery) career.

In this article, we will show you how you can discover four paths to become a jewellery designer and how to understand which process will be the right one for you.

1. The Traditional Jewellery Maker Path

For many years, the best way to become a...

Working with clothing manufacturers overseas is a natural progression for many fashion brands. The move is often necessitated by two main factors - a need for larger volume production or a necessity to reduce costs and increase margins.

Finding clothing manufacturers overseas or any fashion manufacturers for that matter has got easier over the last few years. There has been an influx of multiple online fashion manufacturing directories focusing on different areas and verticals of the fashion industry. Yet, working farther away is not got much easier.

It is not impossible either! It is important to go into these new relationships and make this big change with eyes fully open.

Many fashion brands make the mistake of getting excited by the potential savings they will make by moving their production offshore, and neglect to see the obstacles and challenges such a move will instigate.

No challenge is insurmountable, but choosing not to recognise it early enough and deal with, will o...

Vegan Leather or Real Animal Leather? Sustainability and making fashion more responsible and better for the planet have been on the global environmental agenda for a number of years now. 

According to the global fashion aggregator Lyst, the appetite for more sustainable fashion is on the increase, reflected in searches for sustainable fashion brands up by 75 per cent year on year.

One of the hot topics in the industry for a while now has been the debate if faux or often referred to as “vegan” leather is better environmental and sustainable choice than real animal leather?

The answer is complicated with passionate arguments for both “for” and “against”.

Personal preferences aside – let’s take a look at the factual side of the evidence.

REAL ANIMAL LEATHER

It is often cited and said that the animal leather is a by-product of the meat industry. While not all animal leather used in fashion is of a single type and classed as a “by-product”, it is certainly the case for cow derived lea...

Have you thought about running a pop-up shop to sell your products? Have you thought about where you would hold it, when you would hold it and how you would kit the space out? These are all very important points to consider in order to ensure that your brand’s message is translated to your target audience.

There are so many benefits to setting up a temporary shop in a location chosen by you, the fashion business owner, such as testing your products and interacting directly with your customers offline. Setting up a pop-up shop can also be a low-cost way to launch your fashion business.

You need to make sure that in the short space of time that your pop-up shop is open, you establish your brand to the foot traffic and beyond. Leave your mark and make sure that people remember you – and that those who missed out are so saddened they chase you down online!

Remember: you might not be there for a long time, but you are there for a good time. That means a good shop front, a good atmosphere...

The Fashion Fair used to be all about selling. Buyers would descend on the fairs in droves, seeking out new brands to place orders with, while checking on their existing brands new season's products. But it is now much more difficult to actually take an order at a Fashion Fair as they have now become marketing exercises and not sales events.

If you had the right product it would sell.

Fast forward to the age of social media and things have changed drastically.

It is now much more difficult to actually take an order at a Fashion Fair as they have now become marketing exercises and not sales events.

However, don’t be fooled into thinking that no business occurs. It does but this usually happens over an email after the show has ended. Just be aware that the Fashion Fair is a chance for buyers to be wined and dined by their contacts in the industry.

Why a Fashion Fair?

You may be asking yourself whether it would benefit you to show at a fair considering that you may not sell anything...

If you are a startup, it is always difficult to know where to start with regards to budget planning. Sample development is the foundation that decides the timeline and the cost of your end product.

Let's find out how you can plan your sample development costs.

The idiom ‘How long is a piece of string’ comes to mind when we consider how much money start-up fashion-preneurs will need for sample development.

However sure you are about your design in regards to fabrication, fit and finish; extra costs will always be incurred during the sample developmental stage.

Any design changes and fit amends will incur additional costs than your original quote and any meetings with freelance makers to discuss these changes will also need to be worked into your costings.

It would be a wise move on your part to add a buffer for additional costs which could increase from anywhere between 25 -50%.

If your costs don’t increase then at least you have saved yourself some money. Should they increase...

QUESTION:

Hi Fashion Insiders team, I am based in the UK. Where do you recommend I get my first proto sample made?

~ Isaak - Manchester, UK

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0SeENMqhCI[/embed]

If you are new to the fashion industry and this would be the first proto sample to make from your idea, then the best place would be to keep the initial development close to home – i.e. within the UK. In this way, you can be more involved and learn the basics while making your first proto sample.

Try to find a sampling studio that would be open to helping you learn while also developing your idea. Learning the development process from idea to finished product will help you long term if you are thinking of launching your own brand or developing another idea in the future.

Be sure to speak to a few different studios and learn how they work, what they specialise in, what they require from you before you start and how they charge prior to deciding who to go forward with.

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