A trip to two major fashion production companies in Hong Kong gave De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) students a peek behind the scenes of how to create high end and mass market fashion.
The students from Fashion Design and Contour Fashion were taken on tours of Clover Group International Limited and Royal Spirit during their once-in-a-lifetime #DMUglobal trip to Hong Kong.
Clover, which employs ten graduates from DMU’s world renowned Contour Fashion course among its team on the island, produces bras and lingerie for major global fashion labels.
While Royal Spirit deals not only with high end designer fashion costing thousands of pounds but also produces for the mass market, with its biggest customer at that end being German supermarket chain Lidl.
At Clover, the students were allowed to see what goes on at a global production house in areas that are so commercially sensitive people rarely find out what happens there before a product goes to market.
While at Royal Spirit the students heard all about the company’s set-up and the importance it placed on creating sustainable, environmentally-friendly Fashion in factories that were socially responsible and cared for its workers.
This was seen as particularly important in factories based around South East Asia where there is still a reputation for goods being created in sweat shops.
The students were then let loose on the showroom and allowed to inspect fabrics and fashion lines.
Natasha Blair, 2nd year Fashion Design, said: “I have loved the trip. I particularly liked going into the Royal Spirit showroom. I have loved touching and feeling everything.
“You can see how much thought has gone into each of the fabrics – the detail, the colour, the stretching – and it all looks great.”
Cressentia Masuku, 2nd year Fashion Design, added: “It was great how their approaches to fashion were explained. It’s been a brilliant insight into how production works.”
Talking of Clover, Contour Fashion 2nd year Tia Chand-Corey said: “We got a tour to see how you go from a design to a product. We got to see how bras are moulded and how they research the durability of a bra. It was an amazing experience being able to see behind the scenes. It was the real world of fashion.”
Lecturer Helen Burbage said: “I think the students were amazed to see there is a supplier that deals with the mass manufacture of clothing for Lidl but also has its own label and supplies for other high end brands.
“They were also interested to hear how committed the manufacturers are when promoting to the outside world that they are trying to work in a more and more sustainable and environmentally friendly way."
Posted on Friday 23 March 2018