Member Article

Onesie entrepreneur to join Mary Portas in talk on reshoring fashion manufacturing to UK

The woman behind a highly successful Ashington-based Onesie manufacturing firm is set to join a roster of speakers including retail figure Mary Portas - to talk about restoring fashion and textiles manufacturing in the UK.

Kate Dawson, the founder of The All-in-One Company, which has pioneered the onesie fashion phenomenon, will share her experiences with other manufacturers, retailers and buyers representing more than 1000 clothing brands.

Kate said: “It is going to be very exciting to engage with other clothing manufacturers who, like The All-in-One Company, believe it is time to back British talent.

“I feel really honoured to be invited to speak alongside so many distinguished people and tell them how our business has created a new fashion item – and that does not happen very often.

“Also, how we have been able to continue to produce each one of our customers’ unique designs – even though we are manufacturing on a very large scale – through mass customisation.”

Kate will address the first-ever Meet the Manufacturer conference which takes place at The Old Truman Brewery in London on Wednesday June 11 and Thursday 12.

It has been organised by Kate Hills, the founder of Make it British - the campaign for British manufacturing.

Having worked as a designer and buyer for over 20 years, she became increasingly frustrated with the dependence of British retailers on Far Eastern suppliers and believes that a UK manufacturing based is essential for companies to remain competitive.

Retail expert Mary Portas will open the conference and will be joined by more than 20 leading manufacturers, fashion brands and industry experts.

As well as Kate Dawson the line-up includes John Smedley, Roland Mouret, ASOS, Mulberry, Fashion Enter, Reshore UK and MAS, Joseph Cheaney & Sons, Gaddum & Gaddum, Albam Clothing, Globe-Trotter, Fashion Enter, The London Cloth Company, Tony Lutwyche, Grey Fox Blog, Creative Skillset, Eve Pollard Designs, Bridgwater College, Young British Designers, The Great British Banjo Company, Draw in Light, Holland & Sherry and Threads London.

They will offer advice and provide real-life experiences of building British brands, how to successfully manufacture in the UK and how to work with British factories.

There will also be a series of panel discussions asking: “What does Made in Britain actually mean?”, “Do customers really care where their clothes are made?’” and ‘How do you compete with companies that are’faking it British’ and making overseas?”

One and two-day conference tickets for the Meet the Manufacturer conference can be purchased at www.meetthemanufacturer.co.uk with day one targeted at bigger brands aiming to bring manufacturing back to the UK. Day two is focused on smaller companies looking to launch and build Great British brands, and work with UK factories.

Further details, including the full line-up of speakers, agenda and tickets for one and both days of the conference, can be found at www.meetthemanufacturer.co.uk.

You can follow Meet the Manufacturer on Twitter https://twitter.com/MiBManufacturer and follow the hashtag #MiBMM

Partners and sponsors of Meet the Manufacturer, include Soabar, Truman’s Beer, The UKFT, The Design Trust, Just Style and Fashion Angel.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .