FEL Director Caroline Ash was kept busy with seminars and tours of FEL’s ethical garment factory and micro-factory set up in the week commencing 3rd July 2023.
The week included a visit from the winning Phygitaltwin X Fashion-Enter digital design competition students from Ravenscourt Park Preparatory School. The group watched their designs come to life at FEL’s micro-factory using the amazing Kornit Digital printer and Zund cutting machine. It provided an excellent opportunity to showcase made-to-demand, small scale production that minimises waste.
Here, Caroline talks about the other tours and seminars that took place throughout the week:
“This week we had Year 12 from Ellen Wilkinson school in who were studying business. They were a great bunch, asked lots of questions and found it fascinating actually seeing a supplier working and relating this to what they are studying. A very enjoyable and rewarding seminar.
“We then had KPS who run short courses during the summer for international students and are regulars at Fashion-Enter. Again they were studying business and were extremely interested to hear how our business runs and the challenges we have on a day-to-day basis.
“Next up we had a seminar with Insider London. They were an international group from a variety of countries. They were working on a project, so we related a lot of content to that subject and also talked a lot about sustainability and ethical practices.
“Finally we had the University of South Mississippi join us, again they were studying Business and were interested the Social Enterprise side of our company. They also really enjoyed the technology that we showcased.
“It was a really enjoyable week and very interesting to see how ESG varies enormously between countries and the student’s awareness of its importance.”
Feedback from the various visitors included:
“I learnt a lot about the fashion industry and the factory’s running. Caroline was very welcoming and helpful. Thank-you.”
“I’ve learnt that we must keep our clothes and keep using them rather than buying from cheap, unethical companies. Thanks for this informative session I am enlightened.”
“Everything seemed really cool and exciting. I learnt there are many steps / processes before the product gets to the consumer.”
“I really enjoyed it, I learnt more about the machinery used and how to reduce waste.”
“I found out that there are factories that actually care about social and environmental causes. I loved it!”
“Fantastic! Really insightful and informative, thank-you.”
“It was very interesting to me because I learned a lot.”