It’s been 2 months since I originally wrote about Made in Britain fashion. Since, I have become completely obsessed with it. I’ve still only bought British clothes, well apart from one mishap involving something needed for an interview, and I’ve even got loved ones around me hooked on checking labels. I think it’s about time a bit more noise is made about manufacture in the UK. It’s become even more important to the economy and I really think it could kick start an awesome recovery. This recession is getting a little bit boring now.
10 reasons to buy British
Genuinely FAST fashion.
Ok, I’m not a fan of throw away fashion at all, but since falling for MIB clothes I’ve noticed if something sells out – it’s a matter of weeks before it’s restocked. Orders from overseas take months to fulfil. Orders from home – weeks. It just makes sense – if you love something and it sells out, it’s often over to eBay to find it because it’s not in a retailers best interests to re-order something which will be out of fashion by the time the order hits shelves. Where as if demand is high – they can be assured it’s worth restocking MIB clothing.
It’s not expensive.
If you want a Cambridge Satchel it is going to set you back £100 – but it’s worth it. It’s high quality and well made product and if you went to Zara you’d be buying something which cost a fraction of the retailing price to produce and probably spending near enough £70 on a replica – who’s really losing out here? Certainly isn’t the Brand –they are raking in the profits. I’ve bought dresses, jumpers, skirts, tee’s and none of these items have retailed above £30. How many people can say they spend that much less on clothes than me?
Staples.
There has been some items which I covert which are trend lead but actually the majority of items I’ve bought have been superb staples. Well made gorgeous classic shapes and fabrics. The throw on and go with anything kind of staple. I’m not one for Basic’s shopping – I tend to completely justify spending £40+ on a top that’s made of intricate lace and Made in China. Then squirm when my basic’s basket goes above £30 – silly eh! But the beauty of High Street retail is that to produce a range of clothes which come in at their usual price point but made in Britain means that design has to be a little more innovative. Rid of hideous over embellishment, and it’s back to basics, excellent cuts and the simplicity of the design of the garment shine because of this.
It’s on your High Street – waiting for you!
You don’t need to scour the internet, or research heavily into the market to find these gems, you just need to open your eyes and change the way you shop. It can be hard when you see an item which is lovely and you bypass it because you’re busy hunting out the MIB label. But it’s worth it when you think just how much that item means. I can guarantee at this moment in time there is a fashion garment hanging on the rails of your local high street which is Made in Britain. And you should proudly go forth and purchase it. High demand shows there is a market and desire to buy British. Therefore increasing British production. Don’t be afraid to look at the labels of what you’re buying. You do it in Sainsbury’s when you’re counting calories or salt – that’s why they started putting wheels on the packaging – see what you’re buying before committing, how to care for it, what it’s made of, where it’s made all this info is free for you see before you purchase – so have a look.
Heirlooms.
The UK is swamped in heritage. If ever there is a reason to buy British and save and splurge – then it’s a high quality, beautifully crafted and timeless items. Now I’m talking your mulberry bags, churches brogues and Barbour jackets of the world. They’re expensive at first, yes, but cost per wear, the quality – will last a life time, become heirlooms and last the distance!
The British Fashion industry is directly worth £21bn to the UK economy.
We barely manufacture here, we outsource, and we call it British. If British brands, big and small acted more responsibly started to consider long term benefits of home-grown manufacture and were confident to make the move to home manufacture – imagine how much the industry would be worth to the UK economy. More jobs, more artisan skills, unique high quality and desirable products. And most importantly more money flooding into the economy. It’s ludicrous to thinks anyone is even stalling when it comes to this. The industry is worth so much already and with the increase in manufacture here there will be a direct knock on effect. Demand for jobs; for skills; for talent. This is something we already sell abroad, it’s time we started producing the goods to back it up.
Reputation.
Britain still has a renowned reputation for quality products, yet the skills are dying out and not being passed down through generations. Globally our homemade products are desirable and a sign of wealth and luxury. There is a culture of intellectual property in the country at the moment, you’re not a success unless you’re talking about stuff or selling stuff, unless you’ve got a investable idea, you’ve got a degree, you’re manager to a service, designing something virtual and creating something which – in reality doesn’t physically exist.
What happened to doing stuff and doing it well? Making stuff, building stuff using your hands and being proud of producing high quality stuff, trial and error, not getting it right first time, learning, inspiring developing skills. Artisan skills. You really don’t need to be artistic in order to sew clothes, to build stuff and make stuff. Yet we’re all dying to be creative’s. Why? Surely creativity isn’t a state of mind but is actually the physical production of a creative idea? Being creative, to me is getting hand on, trying stuff out. There’s nothing theoretical about it, it’s about the end product and achieving that.
Intellectual property, sure it does exist, but all the Mickey Mouse degrees in the world (and yes, to some extend I am part of this) are producing an employment market which is over saturated, everyone is selling an idea, not a physical product. We all have ‘transferrable skills’, we need to be thinkers, analytical, problem solvers, strategists. These are desirable skills in the employment market.Everyone is being fed this idea, told they must further their education to get on in life. But what’s wrong with having a garment manufacturing degree? A search on UCAS shows just two courses which fall under garment manufacture in the whole of the UK. Neither of these are specialist. What’s wrong with saying I want to make clothes on your CV. Seems a bit taboo almost – is it anyone’s aspiration to do this? Why not? It’s an amazing talent. To put it bluntly we need to cut the fat. Encourage those 99 who simply can’t match up to 1 other applicants per job to consider another route, another option. Otherwise we’re going to turn into a country of drones all sitting behind desks and feasting on cakes and not getting much done. Frustrated because we haven’t ‘made it’. If you want to make it in the fashion industry, why not start making fashion happen? How about doing something, being proud because the next time you go shopping you see something you’ve made/manufactured hanging in rails and Grazia picking it up as the must have item of the week. Won’t that fill you with pride and achievement? We need to lose this culture of making an individual name for ourselves, being famous for no reason.
Responsible and SUSTAINABLE.
By manufacturing here – we can start responsibly sourcing too – we can be assured that the raw products we are using can be ethical, sustainable and offer clarity of the supply chain. As well as peace of mind that the working conditions are of a high standard that people are being paid fairly and that health and safety in the workplace is a high priority. None of this H&S gone mad, it’ll actually have a point! Imagine that! We can ensure that factories have an excellent environmental impact and that corporate social responsibility is of high priority. Regenerating towns, income, economy. Fashion is a constant. There will always be demand and there will always be orders as a result. It’s not a dying industry by any way shape or form.
Designers do it.
Mary Katrantzou does it. Peter Pilotto does it. JW Anderson does it. Mulberry does it. Paul Smith does it. Victoria Beckham even does it. In fact so many British young and heritage designers do it with much higher overheads, price points, slimmer profit margins and strict quality control – it really is any wonder why the big brands aren't doing it too!
Change is a foot.
Seriously you’d be surprised how many brands are engaging in British manufacture and if we all go out and buy this stuff – not only will other places take note – but these brands will also listen and rise to demand. Philip Green, Arcadia boss, announced yesterday that they currently use 47 different British factories which is a 20% increase on last year. John Lewis, ASOS, Matalan, Asda, River Island, Jaeger, Topshop (and the rest of Arcadia of course!).. the list goes on.. but also there is a bubbling industry of smaller designers/brands, dead set on producing at home. And it’s fantastic. We need to buy British and support our own. The bottom line is – we’re looking after and investing in our nations future. Our greatest achievements as a nation are vast and wide. One thing is for sure – being British is being curious – we were a nation of doers – and we need to carry on our nature of doing. Often our perception of our little nation is twee, old and overly polite. But if 77-year-old Beatrice can be enlisted by Mulberry to hand knit one of their new season, £995, scarves – don’t you think we’re going about this all wrong?
Let’s get inspired by Beatrice, hone our skills and put the Great and United back into our country. So I’m asking anyone who reads this - to share this – maybe not in my words but in your own. Agree to start changing the way you shop being a more conscientious shopper, you don’t need to commit to only buying British unless you feel it’s something you can easily switch to. Start building the demand. Creating a voice of young, responsible and fashion conscious shoppers. Start being the reason we’re out of recession. Don’t rely on banks, the next big thing to hopefully come along or technology to start rebuilding the economy but to start thinking what is your actual skill, what can you contribute to our nation, what can you bring to make us stand out, be different and unique? Highly proficient is MS Office doesn’t need to be desirable skill. We really should change the way we do things. We’re just one country, one island, and in terms of BRIC nations and other manufacturing hubs, they won’t suffer without our business, they will evolve and move on – it’s time to start looking closer to home and looking after ourselves.
Hoorah!
Andrea x
