This week, commencing 13th July, Fashion-Enter Ltd HQ welcomed two groups of students for personalised seminars and factory tours led by Director Caroline Ash. Experiencing a live ethical manufacturing environment gave students the opportunity to connect classroom learning with real-world fashion production, business operations and innovation.
The first visit welcomed an international cohort from KPS Summer School, with students representing a wide range of countries and predominantly studying business. For many, it was their first opportunity to step inside a garment manufacturing facility and witness the complete production process.
Caroline said: “This week I had one of my regular summer schools in – KPS. It was a really international group, with students joining us from a broad range of countries, and most of them were studying business. For a lot of them, this was the first time they’d ever stepped inside a manufacturing facility, so the tour was a real eye-opener.
“It was great to see how much they took from it. Walking through the process and seeing it in action really brought their business studies to life, and they had loads of questions along the way. Always a pleasure hosting KPS and seeing the students get so much out of the visit.
The second visit welcomed a small group of business students from the Fashion Retail Academy (FRA). As each student was developing a different final project, the seminar was tailored to provide relevant insights and examples that could be directly applied to their individual work. Alongside the standard seminar and factory tour, additional time was dedicated to answering project-specific questions and exploring the practical realities of ethical garment manufacturing.
Caroline said: “We then had a small group of business students from the Fashion Retail Academy. Because each of them was working on a different final project, we tailored the session to support that. As well as running our usual seminar and factory tour, we spent extra time giving targeted information and examples that they could directly apply to their projects.
“It worked really well having a smaller group — we could go into more detail, answer specific questions, and make sure everyone left with useful insights for their work. They were really engaged throughout, and it was great to see how the tour and discussion helped bring their project ideas to life.”
Student feedback included:
KPS
“10 out of 10. I learnt about economies of scale. It was all great!”
“I have learnt how differently a piece of clothing can be produced. For example cheaper or expensive methods.”
“I learnt about how AI is used in creating / manufacturing garments.”
Fashion Retail Academy
“10 out of 10, I gained better understanding on the processes and time frame of production and better understanding of digital innovative techniques.”
“I have learnt about the garment making process and differentiation of low cost and high cost garment processes.”
“I found out more about the machinery and its uses, the importance of transparency and fabric usage.”
These tailored visits continue to demonstrate the value of learning within a live ethical factory environment, giving students practical insight into fashion manufacturing while reinforcing key concepts in business, sustainability, innovation and garment production.