Are you running out of ideas for social media content?

An article on the British Business Bank website recently talked about how sustainability, net-zero, and reducing your start-up’s carbon footprint is an important issue for business owners.

The organisation behind tradeshow Pure London has launched a new fashion podcast, Fashion Questions which aims “to give voice to a powerful network of fashion industry insiders”.

French business Damart conducted a poll of 2,000 UK adults to find out more about their thoughts on sustainability.

A new report ‘ State of Fashion Technology’ by McKinsey and The Business of Fashion outlines the areas in which the fashion industry has to act in order "maximize their technology resources."

The (Fashion) Minority Report has launched The Hub, a learning and career development resource that helps to provide talent from diverse backgrounds with insight and guidance about how their professional skills or passions can be unlocked for a career in the fashion industry or creative sector.

Although the economy is currently in a poor state and fashion has been hit in some areas with declining sales – recent research by the British Retail Consortium and KPMG has shown that in some areas fashion sales are stronger.

Every day in the news we hear scary stories about the state of the economy and as customers start to feel the pinch, brands are understandably worried about how they can make sales.

The Department for International Trade helps businesses learn how to sell abroad, find the best countries for your product and create an export plan that is right for your brand.

Start-Up Loans and The Open University have partnered to provide a range of courses that are a rich source of vital information for anyone who’s new to being their own boss, as well as would-be business owners who are considering taking the plunge.

As the UK government has set a national goal of being carbon neutral by 2050, there is now an urgency for all businesses to embrace greener working practices and technologies.

The past year has seen a huge increase in the number of brands turning to gamification to reach a new customer base, as individuals are looking to high fashion to define their online personas.

Whilst social media is a key driver for any business in any sector today, it is essential that your approach to your social media strategy meets your brands goals, missions and values.

Your brand purpose is the reason your business exists beyond making money. It is the foundation of your brand and helps you to set goals and targets, make decisions day-to-day, and persevere through the hard times.

“Vogue Business Future Edit - the brands and start-ups shaking up the fashion industry of tomorrow prioritised ethical values and tech innovation in 2021. In 2021 the fashion industry was at a crossroads, primed for change by the pandemic and increased demand for ethical business practices. Start-ups and emerging brands were at the forefront, driving the industry to rethink how things are done.”

There is a lot of buzz about NFTs but how can a start-up brand use them to build a community?

Brands often approach me for consultancy as they haven’t grown or their sales are stagnating and they want help to get them to the next level of growth. Whilst there can be many reasons why a brand isn’t growing, the area the founder often doesn’t consider is their own mindset.

Overly staged, heavily filtered social media content has really lost its appeal with consumers.

Pinterest is an often forgotten platform, but the platform’s 250 million users are often looking for fashion content.

Sustainable fabrics are a really hot topic and there are lots of new developments in the field.

Sponsorships are a great way to raise money for specific projects that can increase your access to new markets, attract press coverage and increase social media reach.

For social media and social PR to work you need to be consistent, need to schedule regular time in your diary and commit to this time.

LinkedIn is known to be a social network designed for career and business professionals to connect with others, but there are also opportunities for fashion brands on the platform.

FSVP will return to London on 13th April with an exciting new venue and a brand new format.

The buzzword at the end of 2021 was metaverse and we saw a huge number of fashion brands move into this new world. But do you know what the metaverse is and are you ready to join?

As the pandemic continued through 2021, it became clear that greater sustainability in the fashion industry is essential. Across the industry there was a greater commitment to working together to make real change and set the agenda to achieve goals.

The last thing any small business needs is excess inventory, as it is dead money sitting there taking up room in your business. You need to clear it out – but how can you do it without damaging your brands’ credibility.

For a business to be successful you have to earn the trust of your customers. Without trust, they will not make a purchase in the first place, never mind become a loyal customer.

If you have studied fashion design then you may have some understanding of the lingo – but for many people, when you first start working in the industry it feels like everyone is speaking a different language.

LIYA’s main characteristic of the style can be described as classical minimalism with a decorative touch. Main inspiration behind the brand is always the 1980’s office looks re-invented into progressive and fast-paced 21st century lifestyle.

Designed by the most creative and talented fashion duo Aleksandre and Lado, line MATÉRIEL is one of the most memorable Tbilisi based brands. Collections are minimalist with elegant approach to forms and cuts. Colours are always vibrant and bold, transforming otherwise simple pieces into stand out staples.

The Eloshi brand stands for elegance and confidence and is focused on creating graceful looks and exclusive prints that are created very carefully on fabrics that become the piece of art and reflects the mind of an artist. The brand’s mission is to offer stylish, eye-catching clothes to the consumers who demand high-quality clothing. Every piece is created with love. The brand seeks to show that Fashion is art. 

Lado Bokuchava’s collections are always feminine and sophisticated and he finds sources of inspiration from different movies or books that are expressed in the mood of the collection.

The Mach & Mach brand is becoming well-known worldwide for their signature luminous, sparkly ready to wear clothing and accessories. The brand was established in 2012 by two sisters Nina and Gvantsa Macharashvili with a strong vision and desire to create a globally unique womenswear line. The brand has a worldwide celebrity fan base including Gigi Hadid, Katy Perry to name a couple. 

Exciting emerging brand Vaska presented its seventh collection for AW19/20 with a sense of chic and excellent craftsmanship. The brand creates luxury collections made out of natural wools, leather, silk and cottons in Georgia and focuses on glamourous collections for powerful women.

Nino Babukhadia founded her label in 2012 and it has become an influential and progressive label achieving growing international interest. The brand has strong signature pieces which merge the post-soviet past with contemporary influences. The garments have strong feminine vibes with a touch of masculinity that appeal to independent females.

Aleksandre Akhalkatsishvili created his eponymous Georgian brand and launched in FW 18/19 drawing considerable interest from international press and buyers.

New brand Cecile’s collection explores gender blending, designing shapes that suit both men and women creating the concept of a shared wardrobe. The brand focuses on creating pieces that the customer can make their own and wear them in any way that they want.

Renowned visual artist, Irma Sharikadze creates beautiful feminine designs that merge the past with the present, taking references from Georgian history. Irma works with local suppliers in Tbilisi to reuse high quality silk for her luxury brand to create sustainable one-off pieces.

Situationist is a brand that is now getting international acclaim. This season it has to be their show venue that stood out, although their collection also had many highlights, as the brand continues to develop strong signature looks.

Anouki is a Tbilisi based brand offering ready to wear clothes, shoes and accessories from head designer Anouki Areshidz. The brand opened its first store in 2013 and has had a constantly growing customer base.

Through my work, I have built a reputation as one of the leading supporters of emerging fashion talent both in the UK and globally and was honoured to receive an MBE for Services to the Fashion Industry from Her Majesty the Queen in 2017.

Viktorija is an extremely experienced fashion manufacturer and production consultant and so we are thrilled that she has agreed to share some of her top tips with us. She works with students and also in a factory in Lithuania, teaching supply chain management, clothes producing management and organizing systems for successful brand growing. She truly believes that if nobody in a brand understands how supply chain and production works, then the brand won’t sell clothes in a successful way. Without the right systems the brand and even the best designers will be late all the time, there will be plenty of stress and lots of disappointment.

Most of our clothes are made out of multiple materials and mixed fibres. Mixed fabrics are difficult to recycle back into new garments, so the majority of old clothes end up recycled into something of lower value and quality, or more likely end up in a landfill.

Beauty is everywhere. Occasionally, it comes in a bold, dramatic form. But more often, it is wearing a rather humble shape, quietly waiting for us to take a notice.

Defining your brand story is not hard. Like the rest of your fashion business, it requires time, planning, and strategic thought to design a vision that defines and differentiates your brand and the impact and even legacy you want to create within the oversaturated world of fashion.

Industry expert Ross Pollard, shared his experiences and view of Fashion PR - both good and bad.

We are thrilled to be joined by the talented Ross Pollard, Fashion Editor, industry commentator and founder of the acclaimed FashionWorked Awards who has agreed to share his views of PR for start-up brands.

We are thrilled to have the talented designer Charli Cohen join us to share her views on Fashion’s New Uprising. Charli, under her eponymous label Charli Cohen, creates technical-wear, born out of a need for evolved clothing and progression within the fashion industry.

The organisation behind tradeshow Pure London has launched a new fashion podcast, Fashion Questions which aims “to give voice to a powerful network of fashion industry insiders”.

A new report ‘ State of Fashion Technology’ by McKinsey and The Business of Fashion outlines the areas in which the fashion industry has to act in order "maximize their technology resources."

The Department for International Trade helps businesses learn how to sell abroad, find the best countries for your product and create an export plan that is right for your brand.

Start-Up Loans and The Open University have partnered to provide a range of courses that are a rich source of vital information for anyone who’s new to being their own boss, as well as would-be business owners who are considering taking the plunge.

Creative England understands the needs of creative businesses. They know how difficult it is to access finance from traditional sources and that in order to take your business to the next stage, you need a cash injection to make your growth plans a reality.

Do you have a huge to do list but you’re struggling to start even one task? Does everything seem too overwhelming so it is easier to do nothing? We can all suffer from times of procrastination, so sometimes you need to consider why you feel like that. In today’s blog I’m suggesting a few things to consider next time you find yourself avoiding a task and ways to find the motivation.

Most of us find the terms and issues around carbon and net zero quite confusing. Science tells us that in order to limit the impacts of climate change, businesses must reach net zero emissions by 2050.

There is a big debate around whether leather is sustainable. Whilst many argue that it is a by-product of the meat industry and it would be wasteful to just throw it, others would debate that it isn’t sustainable due to the high carbon footprint as well as the toxic chemicals used in the tanning process.

Every business today should have a code of ethics that they operate by – these are the principles that the business will operate by. These are important codes that a business needs to not only state, but live by to ensure they are building their brand honestly and with integrity.

The pandemic has seen a rise in the popularity and understanding of the climate crisis, sustainability and what we as individuals need to do to mitigate our impact on the planet. This has led consumers to became more aware of the dangers of fast fashion and momentum in the ‘fashion for good’ space has gained real traction.

The British Fashion Council (BFC) has announced that it has worked closely with the British Fashion Model Agents Association (BFMA), and the Home office with the support of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) to secure a change to the Immigration Rules, introducing a ‘stop-the-clock’ mechanism on the T5 (Temporary Worker) Creative and Sporting visa used by models and freelancers in the creative industries.

In a world where sustainable practice is more crucial than ever, it is important to recognise and reward the work being done across the globe by progressive luxury businesses. Positive Luxury award businesses and individuals for success in sustainability from innovation to the circular economy.

The Royal College of Art (RCA)-led consortium has been awarded a grant of £5.4m by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to establish the Textiles Circularity Centre (TCC) to enable the transition to a more ‘circular’ economy.

Laybuy is one of the latest businesses to offer deferred payment plans for brands to offer their customers, working with Merchants to let them offer their customers a simpler way to pay. The customer can pay in 6 weekly, interest-free instalments whilst the brand receives their payment immediately.

The requirements of Pending B-Corp Status are to meet the legal accountability requirement for B Corp Certification, complete and submit a prospective B Impact Assessment and to sign the Pending B Corp Agreement, paying a one-time fee of £250.

B Corp Certification is based on the verified practices and policies of a company over the past year, which means that only companies that have been in operation for at least twelve months are eligible for B Corporation Certification. However, B Lab heard from the market that early stage companies needed a way to signal to stakeholders like investors, board advisers, employees, and prospective clients that they were on track to certifying as a B Corp. B Lab created Pending B Corp status to help those early stage companies make that commitment count.

Flying Solo opens applications each season to new talented independent designers to show Flying Solo’s clientele and press the most unique and exciting collections from all over the world.

Wolf & Badger was founded by brothers Henry & George Graham in 2010 with a small boutique in Notting Hill, expanding 2 years later to a second location in Mayfair. With a high global demand for independent design, Henry and George replicated the physical retail concept in an online platform, wolfandbadger.com.

ASOS Marketplace launched in 2010 with just 20 sellers. Since then it has become the leading online platform for independent brands. Today the platforms hosts over 800 boutiques from all over the world and continues to grow and explore emerging markets.

Flying Solo is an innovative retail concept that provides opportunities for independent brands to showcase and retail their premium collections direct to customers through their flagship store in Soho, NYC as well as though a digital platform and at NYC and Paris fashion weeks.

Joor have put the entire buying process online to make wholesale smoother and smarter for both brands and retailers. The JOOR platform uniquely unlocks data between transacting parties - creating a single, collaborative ecosystem so partners can easily access the vital metrics that drive their business in real time, leverage trends as they see them develop and work together to grasp emerging opportunities.

CLO Virtual Fashion is committed to innovating the way we communicate fashion through their true-to-life 3D garment simulation technology. Their virtual garment solutions and services connect all teams involved in the digital product lifecycle, enabling more direct collaboration and reduced lead time, whilst maintaining the intricacies of garment design.

When you host a pop-up shop or trunk show you want to create a WOW factor and how you display your collection will help that happen. The problem for many smaller brands is that they may not get the value of owning the furniture and it needs to be stored between events.

In the current difficult market, many smaller luxury brands are looking at working with financial payment companies to offer payment terms to customers to incentivise them to purchase. Partnering with Klarna could be a good way to boost sales and increase your average order value. You get more customers, who buy more and do it more often.

Many of us initially dismissed TikTok as just a silly video meme-sharing app, but it is becoming a serious contender in the social media marketing sphere.

TENCEL™ branded lyocell and modal fibers are produced by environmentally responsible processes from the sustainably sourced natural raw material wood. TENCEL™ fibers are found in the collections of many leading designers and renowned retailers.

A new platform called Swatch On for sourcing Korean-made fabrics has launched a new sustainability initiative, with several sustainable fabric options for you to buy.

Textile Forum, London's only dedicated luxury fashion fabric show whose exhibitors offer low minimums, returns in October.