Two leading British fashion manufacturers are teaming up to offer more on-shore production, with social enterprise Fashion-Enter taking over British tailoring firm Gloria Fashions.
Founded in 1956, Gloria Fashions specialises in high-end tailoring, producing clothing for brands including Fred Olsen and Brora. Fashion-Enter will employ all staff from Gloria Fashions, and production for its clients will continue. Staff will be located in the new Tailoring Academy, set to open in London next spring.
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“To me Gloria Fashions has always been a bastion for high-quality reliable production and to now have the opportunity to work alongside [CEO] David King is just fantastic news for the industry,” says Fashion-Enter’s CEO Jenny Holloway.
The new Tailoring Academy will be situated next to Fashion-Enter’s current factory in North London, which manufacturers up to 12,000 garments a week for brands including Asos, M&Co and F&F Tesco. Its Fashion Technology Academy (FTA) qualifications from Level 1-5 will be available, plus apprenticeships such as the Level 5 Bespoke Tailoring standard currently being run by Gieves & Hawkes.
Fashion-Enter believes the polarisation of the fashion industry means British retailers will needing more on-shore production than ever before. Orders at the firm’s factory in North London reflect this shift, with shorter lead times and smaller buys to capitalise on trends and stop landfill.
“Retailers’ emphasis is now on exit margin not intake margin. Only the UK can react this quickly, keeping production on-shore and minimising environmental impact,” says Fashion-Enter.
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By GlobalDataThe social enterprise offers a range of business support options for fashion companies and new start-up businesses, including one-to-one mentoring, group workshops and seminars with leading industry experts, sampling and production in the UK and exposure to key industry contacts.
King says of the new partnership: “To now be working in the new Government Tailoring Academy with Fashion-Enter means I can pass on decades of skills and expertise to a new generation. This is a new exciting chapter and nothing will change for our clients. We are going to carry on making even more production as we have record orders now.”
