Sector Focus
EN measures up the fashion industry and some
of its events
Words by: Saul Leese and Olivia Powell
T
he UK fashion retail industry has
been growing steadily over the last
seven years and is currently valued at
£32bn and spending rose to around
£58.3bn at the end of 2018.
Around 555,000 people are employed
in fashion sector, textiles and fashion
retail in the UK. Retail employs 75 per
cent with 414,000 people working in
the retail sale of clothing. The highest-
earning UK fashion companies are the
Burberry Group Plc (worth £7.8bn),
fast-fashion retailer Next (worth
£5.5bn), M&S (worth £4.8bn), and ASOS
(worth £4.8bn).
The retail sale of footwear and leather
goods provides a fair amount of jobs
in fashion. About 11 per cent, (59,000
employees) of those in the industry
work within this sector. Another eight
per cent (43,000 employees) work in
the wholesale of clothing and footwear.
Menswear is the main driving force
behind retail growth and is forecast
to grow by 12.3 per cent over the next
five years. Online growth continues to
climb with 60.9 per cent of UK clothing
shoppers having purchased at least one
item of clothing over the past year.
Brexit remains top of the agenda for
the industry with stark warnings issued
by the British Fashion Council that
a poor deal with the EU that doesn’t
protect British designers’ ability to
freely export could cost the market £1bn
in the first year. Other concerns include
the flow of goods both in and out of
the UK, tariffs, and skills shortages.
Technology is moving at such a pace
that the bulk of jobs that people are
being trained for today won’t exist in
10-15 years. Technology is not the only
thing changing the sector but there’s
also a shortage in practical skills. Gaps
in key competencies across the whole
supply chain, from fibre to finished
garment and from in-house teams to
external supply chain partners, are still
prevalent.
‘Made in Britain’ products could rise
in popularity as the UK works out trade
agreements with other countries and
there starts to be a higher focus on
what the UK can produce itself as a
nation.
Hyve Group (formerly ITE) made
aggressive moves into the fashion
sector with the acquisition of Ascential
Events, adding Pure London, adding it
to its already established shows – Jacket
Required, Moda and Scoop – making it
a one-stop shop for all things fashion.
Martin Arnold, portfolio director,
fashion said: “The Fashion Portfolio
encompassing Pure London, Moda,
Scoop and Jacket Required has really
benefited from the global centralised
operating systems designed to deliver
the best experience and ROI, while
maintaining their market-leading
individuality and passion. The Group
offers access to a global network of
agents, some of the best retail data in
the business, and allows our brands
to prosper under the ownership of a
specialist exhibition organiser.”
Other notable UK fashion shows
include London Fashion Week.
Arguably the most important date
in the UK fashion calendar, it allows
over 250 designers to showcase their
products to a global market. London
Fashion Week is known as one of the
‘Big Four’ of the fashion weeks, along
with New York Fashion Week, Milan
Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week.
Attended by over 5,000 press and
buyers, it routinely generates orders of
over £100m. The retail-focused London
Fashion Week Festival takes place
immediately after Fashion Week.
There are also a number of other
fashion retail events including; Fashion
Evolution, FashionablyIn and Fashion
SVP. All medium-sized shows, these
events are mainly focused on helping
companies break into the fashion
market.
March — 23