Save a British clothing factory – Buy a Shut Tup bag
How can buying this bag save a clothing factory in London from closure? Read on…
BUY THIS BAG – Project Shut Tup
A chance meeting at a dinner party between a fashion designer and a fashion PR led to a conversation about the plight of a clothing factory in Walthamstow – the next thing they know they have launched Project Shut Tup to help save one of London’s last* fashion manufacturers.
Michael Edward’s family-run clothing factory in Walthamstow used to make garments for big designer names – that was until they took their business overseas. He now has only 10% of the staff that he had when his East End manufacturing unit was at his peak, with only a handful of smaller brands sending their orders his way these days.
Anisa Topan decided that with her background in PR she could use her skills to bring focus to the manufacturer’s plight and help educate people about British factories like Michael’s shutting up shop. She came up with the concept of the Shut Tup bag, which is made in the Michael Edward factory, with all profits from the sale of the bag given back to the manufacturer. This helps him to pay his staff and keep open whilst he finds more orders from designers for their collections.
Support Trashonista’s Project Shut Tup and save one of London’s last* clothing factories
Project Shut Tup in the Michael Edwards Factory
If you would like to support this very worthwhile cause please visit the Trashon website and buy a Shut Tup bag. Even better, if you are a womenswear designer looking for a British clothing factory to manufacture your collection please contact Make it British and we can put you in touch with Michael.
*It is difficult to ascertain how many clothing factories are actually still going in London, but it is certainly nowhere near as many as it used to be. If anyone knows exactly how many are still in business Make it British would be pleased to hear it.
I saw this project, watched the videos and love the energy going into it. I just hope they do something as well as a a bag, maybe some kind of Olympics fashion celebratory thing?
The Trashonista has got loads more products in the pipeline – all manufactured in Michael’s factory obviously!
Hi, can you please send me through the details of the factory as I have potential clients who I could send to the factory and need to find out a little more about the factories capabilities.
Many thanks,
Rachael
I am buying a bag and am going to encourage everyone to do the same. Go Michael, go girls!!!
Rachael: what the industry needs is a really accurate free trade directory! There’s one on Lets Make It Here but it it’s wrong half the time and misses the smaller companies like these. I googled “Walthamstow clothing manufacturer” and got a mixture of cloth shops and one more likely. Then I did a street view search of the address. Then I forgot where I started. These workshops all look likely… Michael Edward Ltd at unit 2, 30A Borwick Ave, Walthamstow, London, Greater London E17 6RA, this other company at the same address https://www.duedil.com/company/00888148/leonard-edward-dresses-london-limited (which you can see on street view) and their neighbours who have a web site and mention minimums: Gloriafashons.co.uk
Hi John
I’d love to provide a free directory of all the UK manufacturers. The problem is it involves weeks of work to get them all added and kept up to date, not to mention the cost of web development to do it, and I already run this website for next to no income.
The UKFT should be the ones to do it, but as you say, their Let’s Make it Here directory is inaccurate and incomplete, so next to useless.
If you have any suggestions for how to make something like this pay then please let me know. I already have a list of hundreds of manufacturers, it’s working out how to get them all online that’s the problem.
Hi Kate
It would be great if a volunteer or someone on a small grant could edit some kind of wiki directory on any part of UK manufacturing which was all free-to-use and very detailed. Kompass Directory goes some way but charges and doesn’t specialise on any one sector. Someone with a stamp collecting & trainspotting frame of mind, as well as industry experience would be ideal. Maybe someone who has retired.
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/form_of_data_re_footwear_clothin#comment-30198 is a link to my failure to get tax office lists of shoe manufacturers published. Maybe with a few requests forwarded by MPs or a petition or such, tax offices would ask factories whether it’s OK to release the data about who says they are making clothes in the UK.
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/1930_manufacture_of_footwear_who#incoming-167104 shows me being turned-down by Companies House too, although they will release the data for £250 which some web site owners like http://www.cdrex.com/companies/advanced_search.html and https://www.duedil.com/companies/search have paid somehow.
It does seem wierd that there is government funding from Greater London Authority and Department for Business to the fashion industry via British Fashion Council’s London Fashion Week, and there are grants to the colleges that run technical libraries about manufacturing, and grants to job training organisations, but there’s nobody publishing a detailed trade directory. Only a few years ago there used to be books like Shoe Trades Directory in reference libraries with loads of shoe detail. Now not.
Hope someone reads this and knows how to claim a grant or volunteers.
There are free wiki sites and free hosting sites like host-ed.net that would do to get the information online. I’ve just had a look at http://www.fundingcentral.org.uk/ in case there is some kind of grant available, but I didn’t see one and am no good at minding my own business let-alone a grant-claiming directory service.
Good luck with Make It British
John
Hi could you please send me the details I have my own clothing line and am looking for a manufacturer and I’d love to have them in the UK
many thanks
Hi Hannah
It’s quite likely the the ones I found and posted in the same thread. You’re welcome to get in touch if you want to talk shoe factories – I’ve got a list on http://bit.ly/shoefactories
John