A fashion expert who has worked with some of the top names in the UK spent time with our Year 10 GCSE Textiles students.

Richard Barrett has been in the fashion industry for 50 years and has worked for the likes of international designer Jeff Banks.

Mr Barrett is regularly sent abroad to places such as Dubai, Egypt and Vietnam to monitor the quality of clothing being produced for companies such as Marks & Spencer.

CBA Lead Teacher in Design Technology Abbie Parsons said: “Richard visits factories to check the quality of the clothing being produced and to solve any problems that he encounters.

“He ensures that the clothes are in a good condition by the time they reach the UK.

“The main problem he faces is that the clothes are made in factories in hot countries and are then put in a shipping container that is in a moist environment before they finally arrive in colder countries.

“There are whole factories in this country for repurposing fabrics and finishing the clothing once it arrives here.

“He told the students that the working conditions in the factories he visits are good.

“We also asked him about the ratio of men to women in the industry and he said in the factories he visits the workers are mostly men.

“He added the stereotype that textiles is just for women is wrong and highlighted how many technical jobs there are in the industry.

“It was fantastic for our students to meet Richard. He provided the students with a wealth of firsthand knowledge of the industry which they need to have for their exam in Year 11.”

A video of Mr Barrett’s talk has been uploaded to IRIS Connect to enable future groups of textiles students to listen to it.

Mr Barrett has also offered to send us photographs from his next trip abroad.

(Mr Barrett is pictured above with our students)