Meet the Manufacturer conference and trade show begins in London today

A trade show and conference to promote UK fashion and textile manufacturing begins at Tobacco Docks, London today. It will go on for two days, 3 and 4 June. Meet the Manufacturer conference will showcase more than 100 manufacturers and suppliers to the UK clothing and textiles industries, with presentations from the likes of Simon Colbeck, head of innovation and quality at M&S, Orsola de Castro, co-founder at Fashion Revolution, Caroline Rush of the British Fashion Council, and Becky John, managing director at Who Made Your Pants?.

Organised by campaigning organisation Make it British, confirmed exhibitors for the trade show include textile technology giants Toray, BLC leather technology centre, and flatbed knitting machine manufacturer Shima Seiki.

A delegation of Leicestershire textile companies will travel to London to showcase products at a national trade show which celebrates British manufacturing. Leicestershire Textiles Hub will visit the Make It British event along with 12 businesses from across the county.

The event will also feature a fashion show of Leicestershire products to an audience of buyers and retailers and keynote speech from director of the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership Corin Crane.

Crane said that with 20 percent of garment manufacturing done in Leicestershire, they are a significant player in the market and play a vital role in the future of this industry.

Abdul Bathin, programme manager at Textiles Hub, added that Leicestershire is an important UK manufacturing centre and the textiles industry is showing encouraging signs of growth. This is a great opportunity to showcase the manufacturing capabilities in the region to key buyers and designers from all over the UK.

The companies taking part in the trip include Mowbray Leather Goods, Elite Labels, Eurorose, 019 Group, Insanity Clothing, Pamela Mann, K Stevens, Fine Knits UK, MTEX Technologies, Jack Masters, Prototype 2 and Soabar.

Kate Hills, founder and chief executive of Make it British, said that they are very excited about the partnership with the Leicestershire Textiles Hub. Their philosophy mirrors ours, to reinvigorate the textiles industry and provide information, inspiration and innovation around British manufacturing.
He further added that they have 24 leading industry figures who will be speaking over the two days, who will will motivate the bigger brands and retailers who are aiming to re-shore back to the UK, as well as smaller companies looking to launch and build great British brands.

Shima Seiki will participate as textile machinery supplier by demonstrating its seam-free WholeGarment knitting technology. On display will be the SWG061N2 compact WholeGarment knitting machine that features the company’s original SlideNeedle. Capable of flexible production of a range of knitted items from gloves, socks and other fashion accessories to specific applications such as sports, medical and industrial materials, all in 3D without seams. Also on display will be the latest version of the SDS-ONE APEX3 3D design system.

David Nieper established his namesake company in 1961, designing and manufacturing luxury lingerie and nightwear in Alfreton, Derbyshire. Christopher Nieper, who joined the company in 1986, is managing director and his father David Nieper remains the company’s creative director.

A second-generation family business, David Nieper is still based in Alfreton and is currently enjoying its highest-ever level of sales. The company exports over a third of its British-made fashion globally, with the style conscious French, providing the company’s biggest overseas market.

The company, which is almost completely vertical in structure, has also invested considerably in its manufacturing infrastructure and since the beginning of the last recession has launched both its own in-house knitwear division, which runs a bank of Shima Seiki flat knitting machines, and a new state-of the-art catalogue printing facility.

Marks & Spencer, Christopher Nieper, Managing Director at David Nieper, and the British Fashion Council will be among 24 speakers..

The conference will be hosting a fashion show in partnership with the Leicestershire Textiles Hub, which will aim to drive awareness of the work that the Hub is doing to support the Leicestershire region’s textile and leather goods manufacturers.