Brexit: the dreaded word that many industries are tired of hearing as it can make or break the impact of a business.
According to The British Fashion Council, the UK fashion industry is worth £32bn. The BFC have said that a no-deal Brexit could cost the fashion industry up to £900m.
Birmingham-based designer Paulinah Eboh-Sampson owns Dolls of Decadence; a custom and handmade womenswear brand. The designs are made in-house for clients with custom orders.
Paulinah says there are issues in the fashion industry that need solving.
“The speed of production and the amount of clothes that are being produced is ridiculous, I did two collections and whittled it down to one because as a small brand it’s hard to produce two collections a year.”
“Brands are not doing 4 collections for each season, as well as interim collection, and as a result I think the respect for clothes is not there anymore.”
According to BFC, small businesses constitute around half of the industry and are a core element of the fashion ecosystem, including design, manufacture, transport and retail. There are approximately 178,000 textile and fashion businesses within the EU, 70% of which are women-run.
Source: British Fashion Council
Retail and product expert Nicole Higgins say that fashion has become an overwhelming industry to compete in.
“Fashion has become quite volatile; especially with the rise of fast-fashion where clothes are being made every day and suppliers are under a lot of pressure to make samples and get them approved for quality checks before shipping.”
“A lot of people don’t realise that you can’t fast-forward production, no matter what industry it is. Fashion has changed a lot over the years and competition is fiercer than ever to get the first product out, the latest style made or copy a celebrity’s outfit so consumers can get it straightaway.”
According to research carried out by Boston Consulting Group and Global Fashion Agenda for the Copenhagen Fashion Summit in 2017, the sustainability ‘pulse’ of the industry is weak. It developed a scoring system to measure the sustainability of the sector and gave the industry a score of 32 out of 100 saying it is ‘not yet where it could and should be.
With Brexit looming, Paulinah says her business will be impacted in terms of keeping it alive and maintaining profit.
“I get a lot of international orders, so customs and sending item abroad is my main concern. If I can’t rely on my international orders, I might lose my main customer base which will be a big impact for my business.
Paulinah wants the government to think more about upcoming designers and businesses.
“If Brexit happens, I want it to have a positive impact on smaller businesses because they need to look at how we can sustain and keep the British economy going, as well as improve the sustainability of the industry as a whole.”