Clothing Industry Research

I need to apologise for not adding to my blog for nearly six months!  I have been pretty hectic, but that is no excuse, most of the time I was tempted to write was on the late night train back from London, when I had generally consumed a little wine and may have been a bit gushy!

What I have done is written four monthly summaries, with two more to be finish off.  I am going to post them as they are, as I am keen to do so before I go to Cologne for IMB 2009, which I am very excited about!  I have been frantically typing for the last couple of mornings, either I do not type fast enough, or I do so many random things that I have to constantly consult my diary to make sure I include all the relevant bits!

Anyway, sorry again for being slack!  I also promise to find some suitable photos to post, to prove I have done the things I claim to have done!

Auf weidersehen, Frau Clare

I started my 2009 off in a mad way!  Having acquired a speeding ticket in November for doing 36 in a 30 (in roadworks!), I opted to take the ‘speed awareness course’ offered by Northumbria Police, rather than getting the three points.  For those who have never completed this type of course, I can tell you it is informative, and it does make you more aware, I suppose it helps if you are a contentious driver!  Anyway since then I have been incredibly conscious of my speed, especially when the road signage is not great.

Work wise, January was a busy month!  I did a lot of travelling, around the country, and up and down to London.  Something new to me was filling in my tax return, well there is not much to say about it, but I did manage to do it, so I was pleased! 

For Skillfast-UK I embarked on the re-working of the Dyeing and Finishing NOS, where one to one interviews were required: I visited Schofield Dyers and Finishers in Galashields, a great visit that was very informative, and an honour to see the fantastically traditional processes that are still being used; I also visited Bluemills in Leicester, a much smaller dyeing operation, but the time I spent with John was very worthwhile; I also visited I dress myself, a t-shirt screen printing company in Nottingham, it was good to see a small business that has promoted itself as a business that is based on their ecological priorities. 

I went to London for a follow-up TAG for the Advanced Design NOS, for those that were unable to attend I completed one to one interviews, one with Jane McMillan based in Fullham, and another with Bronwyn who had a business in Brixton.  These three appointments were over two days, so I spent the night in London.  My friend Dr Pammi Sinha (who I am working with on the CRR project) told me there was a fashion show on at the V&A Museum that evening, so I arranged to go along with her, Penelope and two friends from my time at Nottingham Trent, Lynn and Helen.  It was a fairly big event held to showcase LCF MA students work.  There was a champagne reception, where I was fortuitously introduced to Martin Stone, a representative of the British Fashion Council.  On my way into the show I also saw Rose Sinclair (whom I had met in HK), who suggested I went to a show that Rachel (also from HK) had at the RCA, which I did the following day, and managed to catch up with her!

The work for CRR was ongoing, as compiling the case study reviews were required.  I attended an event they held in Loughborough entitled: Closing the loop on end of life, a final stakeholder meeting for a project they were doing for Defra.

At the end of the month I had been asked to be involved in an event called Sustees, arranged by Paul Dennison at Teeside Uni.  There was a talk on the Mon evening, which was great, Rob Holdway from Giraffe Design in Brighton was speaking, he outlined his passion for sustainability and the promotion of more ethical and ecological practice.  By the end of his talk I realised that he must also be working on one of the Defra clothing sustainability projects, we had a good chat afterward.  On the Thursday there was a full day of speakers, me being one of them, discussing many different aspects of sustainability, my talk focused on the work I was involved with for CRR.  It was a great event to have been involved in, and I was very chuffed to have been asked!

Work wise December was pretty constant, travelling around the country for various reasons.  For CRR I visited two more companies to complete case study interviews: Incorporatewear on the outskirts of Birmingham, very much enjoying meeting Brian, who I have since met a number of times at various events; I also visited the Eon head office just outside Nottingham, Kate Reily that I met in HK came along with me to find out the issues dealt with by the providers of corporatewear.  For Skillfast-UK I met with Verity in London to complete the first Technical Advisory Group (TAG) meeting to discuss the Advanced Design National Occupational Standards (NOS), this was held at the wonderful Fashion & Textiles Museum, near London Bridge.  Being part of the TAG was a great experience, it is good to know that there are practitioners within the sector that want to invest their time and effort into the future of industry practice.

My Christmas night out was a unique and unusual experience.  Having been aware that my friend Penelope’s daughter was going to be a ‘flying squirrel’ in the Royal Opera House Christmas production of Hansel & Gretal, I was amazed to see that in Newcastle you could watch a live transmition of the performance at the Tyneside Cinema!  I persuaded my Mam, Jan (my Godmother), and friends Louise and Helena to come along.  It was a great evening, the way they had filmed it was amazing, as the view of the stage was possible better than being in the actual auditorium!  It was made even more exciting when I spotted Fiona appearing from the top of the set, then at the end when she left her very distinctive plats down so she would stand out at the end of the performance!  A fab Christmas night out!

On the work front, at the start of the month I completed two case study interviews for the CRR project, I visited: Carrington Corporate Wear (CCW) who dye, print and finish large quantities of workwear fabric; also Turner Virr & Co Ltd who specialise in formal military dress, also make more functional/high spec uniforms for the MOD, police forces and fire brigades.  Work for Skillfast, I visited Expert Solutions with Verity-Gay Hardy, they are a training provider with roots in a very established dye stuff provider.

Probably the highlight of my year was my visit to Hong Kong for the Textile Institute conference.  I flew out on 13/11/08, I went with Fin Air, via Helsinki, which I found effortless, and would highly recommend if budgets are an issue.   When I arrived I met my fab friend Dr Penelope Watkins there, we had arranged to stay together in a hotel in Kawloon to keep costs to a minimum.  The weather was pretty warm for the first few days, but indoors it tends to be chilly with the air-con.  We had a few days in and around HK before the conference, as Penelope had been the previous year getting around was much easier than if we had been a couple of novices.  Of course we went on walks around Victoria Harbour, across on the Star Ferry, up to ‘the Peak’ on the Tram, also to HK Park and the Tea Museum, and the tram along to Victoria Park.  The night before the conference (on recommendation from a friend) we went to the Peninsula Hotel, bypassing the famous afternoon tea, instead going to Filipe Bar, on the 28th floor, to see the light show as the sun went down, it was amazing, but extortionate!  Hmmm, and there was the shops!  And there were shops, everywhere!

The conference had many speakers, and was run in parallel sessions, slightly frustrating as to plan who you wanted to listen to when was like a military operation!  The title of my paper was:  I presented on the Friday, and was thrilled to have a fairly room full, I like to think that the presentation went down well, as I put a good amount of time into its preparation.  Oh, and I got three or four good questions!  As part of the conference, there was an optional bus tour on the Friday afternoon.  Penelope and I decided to go to HK island, going through the Eastern Cross Harbour Tunnel, we were taken to Repulse Bay, which was beautiful, then we left the tour and got a local bus to Stanley Market.  One of Penelope’s colleagues Philip Delamore joined us when we went to the market, then sat on a pier watching the amazing Sea Eagles (that are all over the place around HK) and the enormous freight ships on the shipping lanes.  We then got a bus back to the Western end of HK so we could get the Mid-Levels escalator up to the Mid-Levels where we had a few drinks and some food.  We walked back down to get the Star Ferry back to Kawloon, for one more drink then back to the hotel.

One of the main reasons to go to this type of conference is the networking opportunities.  There were a few that are worth a mention: following meeting at the cocktail party (with no alcohol!) I am very pleased to say I met with Rachel Philpot from the RCA and Rose Sinclair, who wears many hats; the name Kate Reily was given to me by Fiona at CRR as someone doing work on the corporatewear project, as an undergraduate at De Montfort she gave a very impressive presentation; at the conference banquet table was Vanessa Knowles from Textiles magazine, Philip Breedon and Katherine Townsend from Nottingham Trent, Gillian Proctor from De Montfort, Jane McCann from Uni of Wales; on the last day, just before and during the final lunch we met Alan Prichard from Boeing, that was a wonderful experience discussing first hand the issues Boeing is facing trying to attach wings to a fuselage using fabric!

Following the conference, I returned to the UK on the 22/11/08.  HK airport is very big and impressive making the wait bearable , again the journey went without a hitch, it was just very cold in Helsinki where there was snow, and pretty chilly when I landed in Manchester.

When I came back, my friend Helena Seget had a launch for her first gallery exhibition.  It was at a gallery near Durham, and was a showcase for the works of local North East Designers/Artists.  It was a great opportunity for her, as at the same venue was a travelling exhibition by Grayson Perry, of Turner Prize and pink froufrou frock fame!  It was a good night, as I went with Helena, Mark, Louise and Grant, meeting Joyce and Ray there.

On 7/10/08 attended the RITE Group conference in London, it was an interesting day, with some pretty interesting speakers.  I also enjoyed it as a networking event: my neighbour, friend and fellow Northumbria PhD student Yuki Nakano was there; Michelle Goggi from LMB (clothing recycler) and her fashion designer Holly Berry were there, they were great fun during the less interesting talks; Fiona Kelday from Centre for Remanufacturing and Reuse (CRR) was there; also Tim from Skillfast-UK; I was fortunate to meet a friend of a friend Dr Anna Harvey.  All in all it was a worthwhile day, and I was pleased that I attended.  Later in the month, on 20/10/08 I had to go to hospital for an exploratory operation that put me out of action for a little while.

Following meeting Phil McClenaghan at the EPSRC pre-sandpit workshop, I spent a day (29/10/08) at Dlab at Teeside University to see in more detail the work that they are doing.  It gave me the opportunity to attend the regional Technology Strategy Board event, giving information about the type of work they are funding.