What does the \u201cMade in Britain\u201d label suggest these days?<\/p>\n
To me, it conjures up images of a cottage industry of knitwear lovingly made by hand in the Scottish Highlands, bespoke, traditional tailoring on Saville Row or shoes welted by hand in factories in Northampton.<\/p>\n
In fact, the shoe making industry was more than a cottage industry in Britain. With 80 factories, producing more than 20 million pairs of shoes a year in the 1950s, I\u2019d say that was big business. According to Eric Musgrave of the UKFTA,\u00a0‘The UK is one of the best sources of fine clothing in the world. Its inherent quality equates to good value – a fact that is often better appreciated abroad, where the ‘Made in Britain’ label is a status symbol. In Japan, for example, the very word for suit suggests UK influence: \u2018sebiro\u2019 is a corruption of the London street perhaps most associated with sartorial quality: Saville Row.<\/p>\n
However, British manufacturing, including apparel and footwear, has been in steady decline for over 30 years. And while the resurgence of popularity amongst high-profile brands with provenances, such as Crombie, Burberry and Aquascutum is to be lauded, the majority of their production is carried out overseas. Using cheaper labour in countries such as China, Vietnam and Turkey was too attractive an opportunity to pass over, and one that would save millions of pounds in production costs. It would appear that the British public are more in favour of purchasing a quality, cheap, albeit well-made garment, even if it was made overseas as opposed to manufactured on home turf.<\/p>\n
Of late, however, there has been a growing demand for products with a ‘Made in Britain’ label. Once considered a warning sign for consumers it is now perceived as a badge of quality. This demand is occurring to such a degree that the Asos Stitching Academy<\/a> was launched to address the shortage of skilled makers in the UK.<\/p>\n