The Behind the Seams awards are part of a major campaign by Skillfast-UK, the
Sector Skills Council for fashion and textiles, to honour the skills of those
whose technical and craft skills help UK businesses to compete against global
competition.
Linda Florance of Skillfast-UK explains: ‘The public perception of the fashion
and textiles industry stops with the famous designers, but those in the know
understand that the sector couldn’t function without the creative, technical and
commercial teams who work out of the public eye. We launched the Behind the
Seams Awards to honour those whose skills normally go unrecognised. Without
their abilities, UK businesses would not be up there, competing with the world’s
best.
The six footwear and leather skills heroes included: Mitch Allender, a cutter
at luxury leathergoods company Mulberry, Scott McKee, hand-laster and bespoke
shoemaker at Trickers, Fiona Campbell, designer and pattern-cutter at James
Taylor & Son, Stephanie Crutchley, a shoemaker from Green Shoes, David Niblock,
technical and quality manager at Hunter Boot, and Patrick Stevens, commercial
manager at speciality leather producers Joseph Clayton & Sons.
The achievements of all the Behind the Seams award winners were celebrated at an
event in London on November 11. Their names also appear in a skills
roll of honour, which is to be presented to Skills Minister Lord Young.Florance says: ‘As well as celebrating the fantastic talent in our
industries, we wanted to remind politicians of the need to train the next
generation.We need to make sure that vital practical, technical and craft
skills do not die out.’
