Next size up for growing fashion business
After just 18 months in its new premises, the Leicester Fashion and Textiles Academy has outgrown the space and is on the move again.
The company’s mix of services including fashion design, manufacture and consultancy has helped it grow rapidly.
The academy was started in 2015 by fashion designer Janie Morgan-Wood whose experience includes designing for household brands such as Next, Matalan and Marks & Spencer.
For several years, she used design rooms owned by other companies at weekends to develop her business. Her core service was supporting manufacturers with their technical skills and she also began helping start-up companies that wanted to get a foothold in the industry.
The business was doing well until the pandemic when she lost access to the design rooms.
She said: “As I sat at home during lockdown I realised I needed to adapt. I needed my own physical space and machinery.”
With the help of the Business Gateway Growth Hub Morgan-Wood applied for a Leicestershire Covid Recovery Grant and was awarded £5,500. Together with her own funds, she invested in machinery and premises in Wigston.
A Small Business Recovery grant of £3,000 from Leicester City Council also meant she was able to set up a design room with new machinery to create premium samples.
This space in Wigston started as a design hub but today her business also manufactures small runs of 100-300 garments for niche, high-end customers. Products include ladieswear such as dresses, T-shirts, hoodies, cycling shorts, swimwear, yoga clothing and lingerie, and latterly dog hoodies. They also make men’s leisurewear including sweatshirts.
The business started to build so Janie’s husband Roy gave up his lecturing job and joined her full-time. The company has also taken on three machinists and a part-time fashion designer.
Now the academy has moved to a 3,500 sq ft building on Linden Street in Leicester.
Morgan-Wood added: “We’re helping new brands move forward with quality products made in the UK, and that’s something we are very proud of. With more than 35 years of experience, I’m able to support these brands to make better decisions for fabric and trims, it’s about focusing on what they really want.
“We’ve seen lots of textile manufacturing in Leicester that is cheap, fast-fashion, mass production for high street or online retailers but very few places make better quality garments. Our staff have a high level of skill, every piece is quality checked, it’s quite artisan.
“We communicate well with the brands to make sure they receive what they want. We’re eliminating some of the issues they have experienced when dealing offshore, for example where time differences and language barriers may result in garments arriving that do not meet customer expectations.”
