Don't Make Fashion History: Fashion Roundtable Needs Your Help
Fashion Roundtable has worked to highlight the key surrounding issues and impact of Brexit in an Open Letter to the Government. Support them by writing to your MP.
Fashion Roundtable has worked to highlight the key surrounding issues and impact of Brexit in an Open Letter to the Government. Support them by writing to your MP.
Despite the hard, stone cold fact that the fashion industry contributes £35bn to U.K GDP and employs almost 1 million people, we are consistently left out of any of the government’s plans. Fashion is under serious threat due to the Brexit trade deal and current government policy. The impacts of Brexit are already having hard-hitting effects on everyone in fashion, from seamstresses to business owners. Think-tank Fashion Roundtable, who SHOWstudio have worked closely with over the past few years, need your help in rallying the government to save our industry.
An open letter (which you can read here), signed by over 450 key figures from the industry including our founder, Nick Knight; Juergen Teller; Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey; Jefferson Hack; Bethany Williams and Laura Bailey, is being presented to the government today, Tuesday 2 February 2021. The letter is calling for a roundtable meeting between the government and the fashion industry, much like the one granted to other sectors, in order to lobby for the representation of the fashion sector, presenting the key issues, impacts and unforeseen consequences of Brexit. The letter advocates for the fashion and textile industries post-Brexit, in a pandemic and beyond, for example by stopping the VAT Retail Export Scheme and training domicile fashion talent.
So, how can you help? Fashion Roundtable have created a template letter for you to send to your MP, and can also help you locate your MP if you're not sure. All you'll need to do is fill out your address and contact details. This will help to put pressure on the government to meet with the industry and devise solutions, essentially securing the future of our sector.
Download the template letter to send to your MP and find further instructions here. You can also explore FR's recent SHOWstudio Instagram takeover which explored issues including Brexit, representation and activism in fashion.