Research and development work has been continuing at the Textile Resource Centre at the University of Westminster. The collection now includes garments incorporating technological developments; textile books, magazines and supplier catalogues, in addition to fabrics.

Attending the Autumn 06/07 Fabric Trade Shows: Premierevision, Texworld, MilanoUnica and The Turkish Fabric Fair, has meant that the fabric collection has expanded to include the latest designs and technical developments in the Global Textile Industry. Attending London showcase events for small fashion labels: ‘The Textile Forum’ and ‘The Source’, have been useful for meeting local fabric suppliers who specialise in small minimums and working with small companies. As a result, we have introduced fashion designers to new fabric suppliers, widening their ability to source new and competitively priced fabrics.

Students from the Westminster University Fashion course have been making use of the service, with both technical and fabric sourcing queries. Successes include finding quality fabrics at half the price, and introducing new technical fabrics, such as anti-microbial and new textile suppliers.

The next phase will see the development and introduction of the fabric sourcing website, and the addition of new suppliers and fabric qualities to the database. We hope to be able to expand the number of small fashion labels working with the project and reach a larger audience with the introduction of the website. If anyone wishes to contribute ideas or contacts in this area, please forward to:

Sam Wight (Research Fellow: Fashion Fabrics) on 0207 911 5000 ext. 4271 or by e-mail  at wights@wmin.ac.uk