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Catch up on the latest Made in Kent episode with Fore Adeoye!
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00:15Hello and welcome to Made in Kent live on KMTV, where we explore the world of business and
00:20creators throughout the county. I'm Foree Adeoye and today we're delving into textures and textiles
00:26and fashion industry within the county. First this week our reporter Alia Pritchard visited the
00:31fabric shop in Whistable to find out how their business is keeping the art of sewing alive.
00:36Let's take a look. Sewing is one of the oldest and most reliable crafts and doesn't seem to be going
00:41out of style just yet but how are businesses helping to keep the art alive? I'm here at the
00:47fabric shop in Whistable to talk to Lynn about what it's like to run a haberdashery. We've been here
00:51for I've been here for 17 years now and the lady before me was here for 27 so over 40
00:57years of being
00:58a fabric and haberdashery shop. I used to work in the city and I used to make traders jackets for
01:04the
01:04city so I've kept sewing since I left school and I used to buy my buttons from Maureen who had
01:10the
01:10shop whilst I was down here and she let me know that she was going to be retiring and would
01:15I be
01:15interested. People come to fabric stores and haberdasheries for all types of projects whether
01:20you're restoring a pre-loved item or making something completely from scratch we asked
01:25then what customers are most often coming in looking for. So mainly dress and craft fabrics
01:30and some soft furnishings and haberdashery and then again a lot of things we don't know about so
01:37when the customer comes in we research for them. We do definitely sell a reasonable amount of dress
01:43fabrics because a lot of dress fabric shops have actually closed down over a period of time because
01:49it is difficult on the high street but we also have people buying just buttons. But with every
01:54business it comes with its challenges. One of the largest challenges without a doubt is keeping it
02:01viable trying to make money trying to actually keep the business viable you know retail is quite hard
02:09change of governments don't help either you know the costs continuous costs that are going up
02:15especially with I hate to bring the word in but Brexit and all of that you know you had you
02:20having
02:21to pay more import duties it's much more difficult and people buy things online a lot but I think like
02:29the where I'm lucky is that people do still want to be if you're making something you're not sure what
02:33fabric you want to feel it. We also wanted to find out whether technology and social media is killing the
02:39craft or inspiring people to pick up a needle and give it a try. Thanks to the sewing bee and
02:45also
02:45Instagram it's a very good medium for people to stop and start stop and start lots of people will
02:51also come in to us and ask us how to how to do something on a pattern which is lovely
02:56to be able to
02:56help people too but yes a lot more young people making simple things like bunting or you know just
03:04things they try their hand at get really excited how good it is and then come and do it again
03:09which we encourage. Alia Pritchard for KMTV in Whitstable. Next when it comes to fashion we all
03:16have our own shapes and styles and sometimes big chain brands can't cater to them all so we sent our
03:22reporter Joe Fletcher out to speak to some businesses in Kent who serve specific groups of people who might
03:27not have as many options out there. Let's take a look. When clothes shopping plus size customers may
03:34feel alienated with the lack of size inclusivity. I spoke to the owner of the curvy boutique in Hive
03:39which sells plus size clothing to get some insight into catering towards a niche clientele. I think in
03:45the high street there's very little for plus size ladies. A lot of the standard mainstream shops tend to
03:51focus on the smaller sizes so what I try to do is I specialize in the plus size so that
03:57I can pick
03:58items that will flatter the curvier lady. So I run the shop by myself I've got a model that comes
04:04in
04:04and models she models the smaller items she's just been in this morning so anything that's sort of size
04:0912 upwards. Every day is modelling myself so I model most of the size 18 upwards. I'm here on Margate
04:17beach just outside the old Kent market home to the clothing shop hidden gems. The shop had its grand
04:23opening two years ago and sells second-hand apparel street wear and designer brands. Well what I love
04:29about the old Kent market what I love about old town in general is is that it's like these are
04:35all
04:35small independent boutiques right everybody is selling something very different to everybody else
04:40in here everybody's got their own personality along with their sort of branding that they kind of bring
04:45to this place. So the carpet that you guys are actually on at the moment so that's actually from
04:50the Virgil Abloh Ikea collection. About 10 years ago Virgil Abloh was like massive in the fashion world
04:56he's obviously died in the last sort of four years but he had his own brand off white he then
05:01became the
05:02creative director of Louis Vuitton. I think he was definitely a major influence on me. So I would say
05:08my regulars know me and they trust me. Someone will come in and I'll say I've just had a new
05:13tunic come in
05:14had you in mind what you think I know their style I know their taste. Alex also has his own
05:20clothing
05:20brand not cool clothing which he started with his friend George that he sells in the shop alongside
05:25his branded collections. Fundamentally having a platform for my own brand was like the main reason
05:35have all these cool products like supreme like palace like you know like a Burberry like a Dior and
05:41put them alongside my brand is it is something that like makes me feel great like you know people
05:46will walk in here and they'll look at everything else but and then they'll walk out with one of my
05:51t-shirts or they'll walk out with one of my hoodies. Every lady can look good doesn't matter what size
05:56or shape they are and the main thing is I want you to leave the shop feeling good about your
06:01outfit as
06:01well. Joel Fletcher for KMTV. Now our shoes deserve as the same care as our clothes but sometimes we
06:10just don't have the time or knowledge to have them looking as good as new. I spoke to Nick Clifton
06:15the
06:15owner of Sneaker Preps in Chatham earlier today and about how he and his wife give shoes a new lease
06:22of
06:22life. What is Sneakers Prep and how did this business get started? So we're a footwear cleaning and
06:29restoration company. We do all types of footwear we also do handbags and hats as well. Yeah so we
06:36actually started off because I tried to clean a pair of shoes probably about seven or eight years ago
06:42and yeah it didn't go very well so I did a bit of research and yeah found a better way
06:48of doing it
06:48and ended up doing a couple of friends a few colleagues and it just spiraled from there. And what
06:53goes into restoring or customizing a pair of trainers? Well it's quite an intricate process so
07:00for cleaning it's all done by hand so we don't put anything in washing machines or anything like
07:03that. I've got a few little tricks of the trade and extra tools that I do use and for restorations
07:10and customization that's mainly what my wife Sarah does and it's mainly paint work and dye work so she
07:16uses a combination of paint brushes. She's also got an airbrush for more smoother work that needs to be
07:23done. So yeah like I say everything is done by hand by ourselves here. And with more people looking
07:28into repairing and sustainability how does what you do help people keep their favorite sneakers for longer?
07:36Yeah sustainability is a massive part of what we do especially with the rising cost of not just
07:41buying the items but of everyday items as well. So you know if you spend you know anything over
07:49£100 for a pair of trainers you know to spend £35 getting it clean and give it a new lease
07:53of life
07:54you know you've got another year or so and so you might want to get them cleaned again. But yeah
07:59but
07:59rather than putting your money into lots of different pairs of shoes you could have the same pair of
08:03shoes and keep using them. And what's one thing people should be doing to look after their shoes
08:08that most don't? I would say probably keep them clean as much as possible. So when they're dirty and
08:15they're left for a long time it does cause quite a lot of damage and it makes it a lot
08:18harder to clean.
08:20And also making sure if they're ever wet don't put them on a radiator, don't put them in a bag,
08:25leave them out to air dry naturally. And also probably one of the big things is if you've got
08:30suede shoes or anything similar don't use wet wipes to clean it. And how has being based in Chatham
08:35shaped your business and the community around you?
08:39Yeah it's been fantastic. We've been here since the end of January. It took us a little while to
08:44get settled in because it was quite a big move for us. Previously we was in a little place in
08:50Gillingham. We love the fact that within the Chatham Dockyard there's lots of businesses down here that we
08:55speak to and communicate with. Yeah so which will help business carry on growing.
09:01Thank you Nick. It's no problem at all thank you. And finally let's take a moment to delve into the
09:08figures and statistics of the fashion and textile industry. Joining me this week to bring us the
09:13deep dive is Kami Akinduro. Hi Kami. Hi. So we visited the haberdeshery earlier on in the show.
09:25Could you tell us about what role they play in our economy? Well as sewing and clothes making supply
09:31stores haberdesheries play a fairly large role in the UK fashion and textiles industry which is one
09:37of the largest sectors in the country and itself holds major significance to the UK economy. In fact
09:41according to a 2025 report from the UK Fashion and Textiles Association the industry contributes about
09:47£62 billion. In addition to this its contributions to the job sector can't be overlooked either as the
09:52same report states that it provides 1.3 million jobs. And are traditional shoemakers still prevalence
10:01in the modern markets? Today shoemaking has become a specialty craft creating unique and bespoke footwear
10:07on commission. A research analysis from Ibisworld found that with the effects of the cost of living
10:11crisis many consumers in the middle income market have pivoted to repair services to increase the lifespan of
10:18their footwear rather than paying for new shoes. And figures from the boot repair company estimated
10:23that 22 billion pairs of shoes end up in landfills every year globally and 149 million pairs annually in
10:30the UK alone. But 77% of UK consumers believe the shoe industry should need more to reduce its waste
10:35and 60% say they are willing to pay for it. And finally what can you tell us about the
10:41designer
10:41business in Kent? The designer industry in Kent is very niche. In fact the only source of information we could
10:47obtain was from YouGov which displayed positive statistics towards customers being keen willing and able
10:54to buy and request for designer or luxury goods. For example in a customer survey customers stated that
11:01they were more likely to buy luxury goods as they thought they were a good investment. Thank you Cammy for
11:06joining us.
11:14Now you've been watching Made in Kent live on KMTV. There's more news made just for Kent throughout the evening.
11:20Don't forget you can always keep up to date with the latest news across the county
11:24by logging on to KMTV.co.uk. You can keep us on your social timelines by liking us on Facebook
11:31and following us on Instagram.
11:32We also have a range of special programs in Victor Sports, Kent 101, Kent Film Club, Based in Kent,
11:38The Kent Public Show which you can watch throughout the week. Thank you for watching. Goodbye.
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