Support for British Designers

Government support for UK designer fashion has totalled around £1 million since 1997. This has included a DTI funded study of the British Fashion Design Sector; the first ever Designer Conference –"Focusing on the Future of Fashion"; a guide to setting up a designer fashion business - The Designer Fact File; a series of Pattern Cutting seminars; and a sponsorship breakfast seminar at September 2000’s London Fashion Week.

DTI support for the designer fashion sector also includes:

London Fashion Week

London Fashion Week is the major showcase event in the fashion industry calendar. It is held twice a year – February and September and is organised by the British Fashion Council. The event comprises catwalk presentations and a designers exhibition. Both are home to many established designer names in the UK fashion industry and it is also recognised as a platform for launching new talent.

DTI recognises the importance of London Fashion Week to UK designers and provides direct financial support to help young designers to stage catwalk shows and to exhibit.

For details on designer participation, show dates and times, and to obtain tickets log on to the London Fashion Week website or contact The British Fashion Council:

Simon Ward
British Fashion Council
5 Portland Place
London W1B 1PW
Tel: 020 7636 7788
Fax: 020 7636 7515

Website: www.londonfashionweek.co.uk

The Designer Manufacturing Handbook

The "Designer Manufacturing Handbook" provides a practical step-by-step guide to help designers increase their knowledge of production so that their creative vision and ideas can be translated into real product and ultimately, into sustained business success. It contains a useful directory of UK manufacturers able and willing to work with designers’ smaller scale and fluctuating needs and includes a series of case studies based on partnerships established through the project.

As well as giving practical advice, the Handbook will help to promote a better mutual understanding between designers and manufacturers to the commercial benefit of both.

The handbook, published in two volumes costs £45 and can be purchased from the Industry Forum:

British Fashion Council
5 Portland Place
London W1N 3AA
Tel: 020 7636 7788
Fax: 020 7636 7515
Email: bcia@dial.pipex.com

To view the handbook before purchase log on to the Industry Forum website:

www.industryforum.net

Portobello Business Centre

The DTI has provided support to the Portobello Business Centre for a 2-year project "The Business of Fashion Building Better Designers". This is a two-year project run by the Portobello Business Centre to provide a training programme that can be utilised throughout UK fashion institutions. The training programme, which began in June 2000, has so far helped some 58 designer and designer businesses through the provision of consultancy advice and training in business skills including marketing, finance, and exporting. Details of the course can be found on the Centre’s website – www.pbc.co.uk. The Centre can be contacted as follows:

Abim Olabenjo
Portobello Business Centre
2 Acklam Road
London W10 5QZ
Tel: 020 7460 5050
Fax: 020 7968 3660

A Study Of The UK Designer Fashion Sector

The Designer Fashion Sector Study was commissioned by the DTI and the British Fashion Council (BFC) in 2002, to act as a basis for further joint work aimed at enhancing the success of the fashion design sector and injecting more design talent into UK clothing and textile companies.

The Study's four objectives were to investigate the impact of the designer fashion industry on the wider textiles and clothing industry; to analyse the business support needs of the designers; to map the available support and to map current gaps in provision.

A Study of the UK Designer Fashion Sector:
Findings and Recommendations (399 Kb)

Appendices of A Study of the UK Designer Fashion Sector

There are several organisations providing support and advice to the designer fashion sector including:

DTI - Sector Manager for Designer Fashion and Clothing, Janet Matthew, 
Tel: 020 7215 0947
Email: janet.matthew@dti.gov.uk

British Apparel and Textile Confederation 
Tel: 020 7636 7788
Email: batc@dial.pipex.com

British Clothing Industry Association
Tel: 020 7636 7788
Email: bcia@dial.pipex.com

Business Links
Tel: 0845 600 9006
Web: www.businesslink.org

CAPITB Trust - Clothing Training Organisation 
Tel: 0113 227 3345
Email: cpitbtrust@capitbtrust.org.uk
Web: www.careers-in-clothing.co.uk

UK Fashion Exports
Tel: 020 7636 5577
Email: info@ukfashionexports.com

Designer Forum
Tel: 0115 911 5339
Email: clydie@uphanger.co.uk

Cutting Edge
Tel: 020 7010 1234 / 1473
Email: dzarif@b14london.com
Contact: Devrim Zarif, Business Liaison Executive
Address: 
Cutting Edge - Clothing Sector Project
Link House, 292 - 308 Southbury Road, 
Enfield EN1 1TS
Tel: 0207 010 1473
Mob: 07779 717 194
Fax: 0208 493 8845

Fashion Works
Tel: 020 7704 9747
Email: doreen@fashionworks.org.uk

London College of Fashion Business Technology Support Centre 
Tel: 020 7514 7526
Email: j.damnes@lcf.linst.ac.uk
Web: www.icf.linst.ac.uk

Waltham Forest Fashion Design and Exhibition Centre
Tel: 020 8496 2935
Email: fdec@btconnect.com    
Web: www.cida.co.uk                     

Midlands Fashion Showcase (Ltd)
Tel: 0121 236 8822
Email: team@mfsl.freeserve.co.uk
Web: www.midlandsfashion.com