On February the 26th London’s Mayor Boris Johnson was in Bethnal Green, not to hang out at Shoreditch House or pick up some Vintage off Brick Lane, but to formally open East End Manufacturing, London’s newest garment factory.
The business, which is owned by Barry Laden (ahem ultimate factory owner’s name) focuses on jersey and has interest from big names including Next. He recently told Drapers: “Obviously we are not at the stage to produce Next’s mainline garments, but for special ranges or test runs we can produce items in the low thousands. There are some things we will never be able to compete on – jeans for example – but with certin products we can compete on price and quality as well as making things quickly.”
With more scrutiny than ever on British retailer’s supply chains ( see Horse Meat Scandal) will consumers be willing to seek out those ‘Hand Made in Britain’ items and in most cases pay a premium for them? It’s a trend I know many of my jewellery designers on MYFLASHTRASH.COM will welcome, as with our office,most of them are based in London’s jewellery district Hatton Garden and help support a thriving community of CAD designers, setters, platers, stone and chain suppliers- but from a retailers point of view rarely has the origin of the jewellery or the material ( many high fashion and recognisable jewellery brands simply silver or gold plate brass) been questioned by the consumer until now. As customers are more frugal and selective with their purchases thoughtful touches such as hallmarking and packaging are helping incite trust.
1. Gold Suit Case Necklace £175 Hallmarked by Katie Mullally 2. The Beautiful boxes for BARK jewellery
All signs that whilst the high street is shedding its skin looking for a new identity, ‘the maker movement’ is in full throttle, as Etsy holds its position as the most pinned company on pintrest more and more people are investing in local individual’s hand made goods that start life as hobbies and over time become legitimate brands. So perhaps the answer is yes to British made goods and a revival in British manufacturing but not just on a factory scale- its the kitchen table production lines that are bit by bit propping up local economies and taking up a significant share of the e-commerce market.
