Fashion is Disconnected: exploring the potential of design-integrated, locally-based manufacturing units to reconnect designer and maker, and ultimately reconnect the consumer with the garment creation process for a new system of Fashion 2.0

This research considers the feasibility of Localism. It examines UK garment manufacturing,
identifying two alternative approaches, the so-called slow fashion and integrating
technology into a lean manufacturing model. Through a review of current literature and
insights from industry, potential opportunities and barriers have been identified, primarily
an ageing workforce and a skills gap in subsequent generations.

By exploring the role of education, the disconnect between academia and industry, and the
impact of the current system on social, environmental and economic factors, it delivers new
important analysis by taking a unique inside perspective of the needs of UK manufacturing.
This analysis is crucial to our knowledge and understanding of the sector's future potential,
addressing the graduate skills gap identified by employers and movement towards a direct
to consumer (DTC), low-waste model. Thus, the Localism model has the potential to reform
education from primary to university level, increase the appeal of careers within
manufacturing, encourage closer collaboration between fashion academia and industry and
ultimately, transform the UK fashion sector into what could be described as Fashion 2.0