UK
Care labels and the rules around labelling for different countries around the world formed the topic of a joint seminar organised by the Textile Services Association (TSA) and the UK Fashion & Textile Association (UKFT) on Tuesday 17 April.
When TSA approached UKFT in early January 2018 to discuss a joint seminar opportunity, UKFT were keen to take them up on the offer to provide their membership – made up of fashion brands, retailers and manufacturers – the opportunity to really understand the lifecycle of their products and how the early development stages affect their quality perception.
Adam Mansell, UKFT’s CEO, opened the seminar informing the delegates about what each care label means and the rules around labelling for different countries around the world, covering topics such as country of origin, fibre content and care symbols. As well as CEO of UKFT, Mansell is also the President of Ginetex the organisation that own the worldwide trademark of care labels, so he really knows the content like the back of his hand!
TSA board member Adrian Redgate owns National Drycleaners, a Nottingham-based laundry and dry- and wetcleaning company and is the fourth generation in his family to run the business. He took delegates through the differences between drycleaning and wetcleaning processes and why brands do need to be aware of how the entirety of their product tests in a cleaning process. He used examples of when things go wrong such as a chipped button or bleeding fabric to highlight the necessity of testing all parts of the garment from trims and embellishments through to inner linings and adhesives.
Following the two presentations, an excellent question and answer session begun with many eager (and well-known) brands from the audience such as Burberry and Monsoon keen to gain Adrian’s advice on areas such as gold trimmings and beading as well as the infamous problem of delamination!
The TSA is confident that the introduction of www.drycleaningadvice.org is just the beginning of how TSA and UKFT can work together to improve the dialogue between the professional garment care industry and the garment producers.
