Reading the recent reports around UK fashion manufacturing and skills, I kept thinking about how many conversations in this industry still happen separately from one another.
Factories speak about capacity and efficiency. Brands speak about creativity and growth. Retail speaks about pricing and customer behaviour. But very few people seem to sit between all three.
Having spent years in retail before building PINTO HERVIA, I have seen how disconnected those conversations can become. As a retailer, nobody ever really asked what the end product actually needed to succeed commercially, emotionally or practically with the customer. Equally, since moving into development and production, I have seen first-hand the pressures factories are under just to remain viable.
The challenge facing British manufacturing is not simply about skills shortages or machinery investment. It is also about rebuilding communication between the people making garments, the people selling them, and the people wearing them.
Working closely with UK factories has completely changed how I think about product development at PINTO HERVIA. Not just designing garments, but understanding lead times, machinery, material behaviour, finishing and construction from the very beginning.
The future of British manufacturing will not survive on nostalgia alone. It needs better alignment between creativity, production and commerce. Otherwise we risk losing not only capacity, but the wider knowledge system that once connected the entire industry together.
That, to me, still feels like the missing conversation.
