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...

Making a choice between fast fashion vs the slow fashion movement may seem like an obvious choice, yet it is not an easy choice for many to make. One has moral implications while the other is more practical and economical. So what is it to be?

In this consumer- and trend-driven era of valueless clothes, you’re now able to change your outfit up to three times a day, should you so desire. The trend for cheaply-produced, throwaway fashion can be traced back to the early noughties when Philip Green bought the Arcadia group for a cool £850m. In 2005 his jewel in the crown, Topshop, accounted for £1bn of UK clothing sales by the first six months of that year. With the entire clothing market only worth £7bn, Green was onto a winning streak with his 14% stake in the market!

Green's ability to deliver “Fast Fashion” - cheaply-made clothing based on designer fashion trends that are produced very quickly in small quantities - peaked the interest of his competitors. They were determined to em...

The fashion industry is the second most pollutant industry in the world. Now, more than ever, we should be thinking about sustainability. But what is sustainable fashion? And is fashion sustainable?

Is it ecological, is it ethical or is it green?

There are so many definitive buzz words being used in the press that it’s hard not to be confused.

The reality we now, depressingly, find ourselves in, is a situation predicted by Carlo Petrini (founder of the Slow Food Movement). In 1985 he asked a simple question:

“How did we end up in an era when we have to define and certify things that should be normal?”  

To understand the definition of sustainable fashion, we should define the Fast Fashion model to illustrate the differences between the two.

Fast Fashion raised its ugly head towards the latter part of the previous century. It coincided with the rise of the internet as a gateway to consumer consumption. The ready availability of all manner of products online gave rise to a fierc...

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...

Buying ethical clothing and talking about ethical fashion has become the "in" thing of our generation. But what does it mean? What makes clothes ethical? Few ask the question let alone look into the process and meaning of this modern-day term so many feel so passionate about. The truth is, ethical clothing is not something that starts and ends with the designing and sewing of them. It's important that the actions before and after the actual creation process are also ethical. What does that mean exactly?

"Ethical clothing" can refer to many different aspects of production. It can mean that the materials used for manufacturing those clothes have been grown in an organic fashion. It could also mean that the people who are creating those clothes are working in adequate conditions.

But it could also refer to the actual workers who are growing the cotton crops used for making the clothes, and their work conditions.

Read more about ethical manufacturing here.

What can you do to ensure th...

The rise of cruelty-free fashion and beauty brands is apparent and all around us. Over the last few years, keen followers of fashion, no doubt would have noticed a sharp increase in consumers seeking more conscious fashion choices.

For many, the search led them to nowhere. Others chose to do something it and launched their own brands in this increasingly popular product niche.

The poor state of the planet we live in is highlighted daily. No longer do we witness natural disasters from a safe distance. More and more of us experience first-hand or know of someone who has been directly affected by such climate change provoked calamities.

Most causes point to the vast amount of land, claimed through (mostly) deforestation in order to make it suitable for growing crops that will feed the animals. According to a study done by the Harvard University approved in 2013, around 30% of the worlds ice-free surface land is farmed to support the feeding of chickens, pigs and cattle that we consume....

Sustainable fashion terminology can be confusing to most. Like many other industries, fashion is shaped by economic and political forces. It is like a living organism – always evolving and changing. I'm sure – like me – you must find it hard to keep up with all the terminology used by industry insiders. Not only are there new words and labels emerging, but often they overlap in meaning and it is confusing to know what they all mean exactly.

So, here is a handy guide that will clear up the confusion. Even help you understand, if you are in fashion, what you should look out for and stand for.

Conscious Fashion

Conscious fashion is a catch-all term. It is often used by people to imply “sustainability”, “ethical” practices or “eco”. Some brands use the name to imply “mindful” and “purposeful” and in fact even use it as part of the brand name. They don’t always have to be a sustainable fashion brand, though some may be. It is best to check for more information on their website and even c...

Fashion Trend Forecasting agencies' foresight into future trends is not limited to predicting the colours and materials that will be popular over the next two years. Forecasters also delve into the lifestyles and buying habits of your brands' consumer to gain insight into their present values and future desires. Let's take a look at what these agencies do and why they are important.

What is Fashion Trend Forecasting?

Fashion forecasting is the technique of predicting buying habits and moods of the consumers. It includes the prediction or forecasting of colours, fabrics, textures, and various other styles that are going to be presented on the runway and will be in the stores for the upcoming seasons.

What are the Types of Fashion Forecasting?

Short-term: This is used by merchandisers, production managers or products developers to generate style directions and to shape collections. Most apparel companies these days subscribe to the services which easily provides them with reports ...