Not long now!

We are in the final throws of getting ready to preview our first collection this week in Warwick. Manufacturing was very full on as we were making some pieces from scratch. I feel so lucky to be working with people who have been in the industry for a long time and know as much as anyone about making swimwear. I really have such respect for what I call 'proper people' in whatever walk of life; they are those who often just get on quietly doing their thing only really, really well. 'What they don't know...' etc.  LONGKINI is very about trying to create more industry in our factories, helping to keep skills alive and also to celebrate these qualities. Many of those who worked in the clothing industries in the UK have had a tough time over recent decades with highs and lows. Each decline brings with it factory closures and the loss of livelihoods. The immense pressure of low cost manufacturing in other countries where wages and cost of living are vastly different is perhaps the biggest challenge faced by UK manufacturing, especially in the clothing trade. In creating a new swimwear range, and my first, I could not contemplate how I could have achieved the same end result without the opportunity to be in the factory whilst working on samples. Being able to discuss the manufacturing process one to one is invaluable and OK no doubt the 'bigger boys' are out there doing it in other parts of the world, but for LONGKINI its not going to happen that way, I can't see how it could.