The UK Fashion and Textiles Association (UKFT) is introducing two new projects to support future talent in the industry as part of a wider aim to promote the growth of the UK fashion supply chain.
The first project, Made It, is a campaign to promote a better understanding of sourcing, production and the benefits of UK manufacturing to the next generation of buyers, designers and entrepreneurs.
It aims to ensure that the UK’s creative talent of the future has the right skills to work with the growing manufacturing industry in the UK.
Made It will see UKFT work with five universities a year for the next three years to help ensure students get a much better understanding of the manufacturing environment and how, when they leave university and enter the industry, they can help the manufacturing sector thrive. UKFT will also deliver masterclasses to second and third-year students at the chosen universities and will be offering five students a year a paid, term-long placement, at a UK manufacturer.
The second initiative — UKFT Pop-up Factory and Careers Showcase — aims to address one of the major barriers to growth faced by UK manufacturers; attracting new talent into this part of the industry.
“There are currently thousands of job vacancies in the UK fashion and textile manufacturing sector,” says UKFT chief executive Adam Mansell. “While there are several reasons for this, the absolute key is that so many people don’t know that there is still a manufacturing industry here in the UK with a huge range of fantastic jobs available. Right now around 120,000 people are employed in the UK manufacturing industry and collectively they produce over GBP9bn (US$11.6bn) of fashion and textiles every year.”
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataThe showcase will run at 30 major careers events over the next three years. More than 150,000 people will visit these events and the pop-up factory will allow young people to have a go at making things, talk to local employers about job opportunities, and find out about the new apprenticeships that are available for the sector.
UKFT chairman Nigel Lugg says: “Our UK manufacturers work with some of the best-known luxury companies around the world including names such as Balenciaga, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Prada but you can also find UK-made product in many high street stores.
“However, in order to maximise this opportunity, we all need to be encouraging a new generation of people to join our industry and to give our designers of tomorrow the knowledge of what’s on their doorstep and how working with local manufacturers can deliver huge benefits.”
