Latest news with #CarrySomers
Fashion Value Chain
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fashion Value Chain
Manchester Fashion Week Returns After a Decade
After a ten-year hiatus, Manchester Fashion Week (MFW) returns from 9–11 September 2025, reimagined as a progressive, industry-led event that fuses heritage with innovation. Backed by fashion pioneers Carry Somers (Fashion Revolution) and Safia Minney, MBE (People Tree), and media partner Eco Age, the three-day showcase aims to future-proof fashion by spotlighting sustainability, technological innovation, and cultural relevance. Held in the vibrant St. John's district, with Campfield as the central venue, MFW is designed to honour Manchester's rich textile legacy while confronting modern challenges—particularly those surrounding fast fashion, circularity, and meaningful consumption. Gemma Gratton, Executive Producer, MFW: 'Manchester has always led – in music, in manufacturing, in movements. Now it's time to lead in future-facing fashion.' John Higginson, CEO, Eco Age: 'There's a battle between flimsy fast fashion and timeless design. Manchester Fashion Week is about forever fashion.' Each day of the event will be curated around key themes: Heritage & Future-Proof Health & Wellness Tech & Innovation Beyond the runway, the festival will offer public experiences, creative activations, and cross-sector dialogues across Manchester, making it a cultural reset for the city's £12 billion fashion industry. This edition is positioned as a pilot platform, intended to build toward a more expansive and collaborative future for UK fashion. Learn more:
Fashion Network
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fashion Network
Manchester Fashion Week makes a comeback
Manchester wants to return to the forefront of the fashion scene. After hosting shows for Chanel and Fila in recent years, with Haider Ackermann at the helm, the northern English metropolis, which was the capital of the textile industry in the 19th century - it was nicknamed "Cottonopolis" because it produced half the world's cotton - is looking to reaffirm its link with fashion by relaunching Manchester Fashion Week. It is announcing its return, after a ten-year hiatus, with a new team and management, and a focus on sustainable development. The event will take place over three days from September 9 to 11, just before the "Big Four" marathon of Fashion Weeks in New York, London, Milan, and Paris. Its nerve center will be Campfield, Manchester's former market halls in the new St. Johns district, which have been renovated and transformed into a hub for tech and creative start-ups. "The event will be steered by renowned industry thought leaders, including Carry Somers, the co-founder of the Fashion Revolution movement, and Safia Minney, another sustainable fashion pioneer at the helm of ethical fashion brand People Tree," said the organizers, in a statement, adding that the executive producer of this Manchester Fashion Week is Gemma Gratton, who boasts twenty years' experience in sales and project management. Manchester Fashion Week is also supported by the media platform and sustainability consultancy Eco Age. "Manchester has always been at the forefront, whether in music, manufacturing, or movements. Today, it's time to return to the forefront by preparing the future of fashion from scratch. Manchester Fashion Week is not just a celebration of style, but a cultural catalyst for people, purpose, and progress," said Gratton, who co-founded the Manchester Fashion Movement in 2019 to raise awareness of the damaging effects of clothing overproduction and launched the ethical brand The Bee Thrive. Manchester Fashion Week will welcome established brands and emerging designers, the organizers announced without detailing the program, stating that beyond the runway shows, "it will highlight heritage and future, health and wellness, tech and innovation, merging fashion with responsible innovation," during round tables, exhibitions, and interactive experiences. Manchester Fashion Week was launched in Manchester in the early 2010s, but only lasted a few editions. In parallel, another event called Northern Fashion Week was held between 2022 and 2024.
Fashion United
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fashion United
Manchester Fashion Week to return after a decade away
Manchester Fashion Week is returning in September, after a decade away, with a mission to spotlight emerging design talent, innovation and sustainability, while offering brands an opportunity to connect and shape the future of fashion. The event will run from September 9 to 11, ahead of London Fashion Week, and will be centred around the vibrant St. John's area of Manchester, with its official hub set in the newly refurbished Campfield, a new creative hub that has transformed one of Manchester's oldest market halls. With support from sustainability fashion media platform and consultancy Eco Age, which relaunched under new ownership in June as a communications agency for 'future fashion,' Manchester Fashion Week will be spearheaded by some of the industry's renowned thought-leaders, including Carry Somers, founder of global movement Fashion Revolution and Safia Minney, award-winning social entrepreneur and founder of People Tree, a pioneer of sustainable and fairtrade fashion. Gemma Gratton, executive producer of Manchester Fashion Week, said in a statement: "Manchester has always led in music, in manufacturing, in movements. And now, it's time to lead again by future-proofing fashion from the ground up. "Manchester Fashion Week is not just a celebration of style, but a cultural catalyst for people, purpose, and progress." Manchester Fashion Week to champion sustainable practices and technological advancement Manchester Fashion Week pledges to unite emerging designers and established brands on a platform that bridges Manchester's industrial heritage with cutting-edge innovation by spotlighting conversations around the city's textile heritage and mills, sustainable practices and technological innovations to future-proof the fashion industry. The inaugural pilot will be industry-led, with public experiences and cultural events, and will be focused around three themed days, 'to merge fashion with conscious innovation,' explains organisers. The first day will focus on 'Heritage and Future-Proof,' celebrating Manchester's industrial heritage with next gen style and future innovation, while day two will showcase 'Health and Wellness' diving into a world where fashion fuels the 'mind, body and soul,' spotlighting high-tech active-wear, colour therapy couture, and conversations about mental health in the industry. The final day will highlight 'Tech and Innovation' and how the new era of fashion is 'creative, conscious and circular,' showing how AI-powered design, 3D-prototype innovation, smart textiles and digital-only garments are transforming how we create, consume and circulate. John Higginson, chief executive of Eco Age, added: 'Manchester is Britain's fashion mecca. Where else do you go where everyone walks around as if they are always on a catwalk? But there is a fight between crappy, flimsy fast fashion and the beautiful things you want to keep forever. 'Manchester Fashion Week is all about future fashion – forever fashion.' Manchester Fashion Week to return September 9 - 11 Manchester has been dubbed the 'rising fashion capital' of the UK, for launching and nurturing some of the UK's most well-known fashion brands, as well as housing the UK's first fashion manufacturing lab, pioneered by the Manchester Fashion Institute, which offers businesses and researchers access to collaborative robotic technology, 'cobots', that can create sustainable high value, low volume garments. The city has also recently been spotlighted as the new UK home of Puma. The German sportswear brand is relocating its UK headquarters from London to Manchester's technology, digital and creative hub, Circle Square, and has launched a new initiative, 'R-City,' geared at investing in the city's youth with free gym memberships, music masterclasses, youth-led events, and product drops. "This isn't just Manchester's moment. It's Manchester fashion's reset. And it starts here – right from the root," the organisers added. The relaunch of Manchester Fashion Week follows the British Fashion Council's chief executive officer Laura Weir pledging to promote and support the fashion industry across the whole of the UK, not just London, starting with its new creative education BFC Fashion Assembly pilot, which will take designers back to their old schools, so that young people outside of London can see themselves in this industry in the future.
Fashion Network
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fashion Network
Manchester Fashion Week makes a comeback
Manchester wants to return to the forefront of the fashion scene. After hosting shows for Chanel and Fila in recent years, with Haider Ackermann at the helm, the northern English metropolis, which was the capital of the textile industry in the 19th century - it was nicknamed "Cottonopolis" because it produced half the world's cotton - is looking to reaffirm its link with fashion by relaunching Manchester Fashion Week. It is announcing its return, after a ten-year hiatus, with a new team and management, and a focus on sustainable development. The event will take place over three days from September 9 to 11, just before the "Big Four" marathon of Fashion Weeks in New York, London, Milan, and Paris. Its nerve center will be Campfield, Manchester's former market halls in the new St. Johns district, which have been renovated and transformed into a hub for tech and creative start-ups. "The event will be steered by renowned industry thought leaders, including Carry Somers, the co-founder of the Fashion Revolution movement, and Safia Minney, another sustainable fashion pioneer at the helm of ethical fashion brand People Tree," said the organizers, in a statement, adding that the executive producer of this Manchester Fashion Week is Gemma Gratton, who boasts twenty years' experience in sales and project management. Manchester Fashion Week is also supported by the media platform and sustainability consultancy Eco Age. "Manchester has always been at the forefront, whether in music, manufacturing, or movements. Today, it's time to return to the forefront by preparing the future of fashion from scratch. Manchester Fashion Week is not just a celebration of style, but a cultural catalyst for people, purpose, and progress," said Gratton, who co-founded the Manchester Fashion Movement in 2019 to raise awareness of the damaging effects of clothing overproduction and launched the ethical brand The Bee Thrive. Manchester Fashion Week will welcome established brands and emerging designers, the organizers announced without detailing the program, stating that beyond the runway shows, "it will highlight heritage and future, health and wellness, tech and innovation, merging fashion with responsible innovation," during round tables, exhibitions, and interactive experiences. Manchester Fashion Week was launched in Manchester in the early 2010s, but only lasted a few editions. In parallel, another event called Northern Fashion Week was held between 2022 and 2024.
Fashion Network
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fashion Network
Manchester Fashion Week makes a comeback
Manchester wants to return to the forefront of the fashion scene. After hosting shows for Chanel and Fila in recent years, with Haider Ackermann at the helm, the northern English metropolis, which was the capital of the textile industry in the 19th century - it was nicknamed "Cottonopolis" because it produced half the world's cotton - is looking to reaffirm its link with fashion by relaunching Manchester Fashion Week. It is announcing its return, after a ten-year hiatus, with a new team and management, and a focus on sustainable development. The event will take place over three days from September 9 to 11, just before the "Big Four" marathon of Fashion Weeks in New York, London, Milan, and Paris. Its nerve center will be Campfield, Manchester's former market halls in the new St. Johns district, which have been renovated and transformed into a hub for tech and creative start-ups. "The event will be steered by renowned industry thought leaders, including Carry Somers, the co-founder of the Fashion Revolution movement, and Safia Minney, another sustainable fashion pioneer at the helm of ethical fashion brand People Tree," said the organizers, in a statement, adding that the executive producer of this Manchester Fashion Week is Gemma Gratton, who boasts twenty years' experience in sales and project management. Manchester Fashion Week is also supported by the media platform and sustainability consultancy Eco Age. "Manchester has always been at the forefront, whether in music, manufacturing, or movements. Today, it's time to return to the forefront by preparing the future of fashion from scratch. Manchester Fashion Week is not just a celebration of style, but a cultural catalyst for people, purpose, and progress," said Gratton, who co-founded the Manchester Fashion Movement in 2019 to raise awareness of the damaging effects of clothing overproduction and launched the ethical brand The Bee Thrive. Manchester Fashion Week will welcome established brands and emerging designers, the organizers announced without detailing the program, stating that beyond the runway shows, "it will highlight heritage and future, health and wellness, tech and innovation, merging fashion with responsible innovation," during round tables, exhibitions, and interactive experiences. Manchester Fashion Week was launched in Manchester in the early 2010s, but only lasted a few editions. In parallel, another event called Northern Fashion Week was held between 2022 and 2024.
