DAY SEVENTEEN – (17th August)
*An early pick up meant I dozed for most of the two hour journey down to the MAS green factory – Thurulie – this morning, however the beautiful warm sunshine and breeze along with the very peaceful surroundings woke me up (along with a green tea and lots of biscuits!)
* Hiru was absolutely amazing at taking me around, showing me her great CSR initiatives (I can’t wait to hear how effective they are!) and making sure I got to talk to the right people who could give me the necessary information on my project!
* The lady who managed the ‘Women Go Beyond’ initiative – a brilliant programme based on empowering women through training, extra-curricular activities, courses and rewarding excellence – was kind enough to give me an overview of why MAS is so people-centric and the benefits this holds for the workers as well as the company.
* After lunch I was able to interview a number of factory staff about their involvement with employee initiatives and training and how they had personally benefitted from these – I was amazed to hear the story of last year’s ‘Women Go Beyond’ achievement award winner – she had been working for MAS for over 18 years and could not thank them enough for seeing the potential in her – from beginning as a sewing trainee she now oversees the whole training line recruits!
Currently undertaking a PhD at Manchester Metropolitan University within the MIRIAD post-graduate department, I am beginning a practice based academic journey into British wool fibres and new technologies within knitwear design.
Graduating with Distinction from a Masters in Fashion and the Environment at London College of Fashion, specialising in hand-knitting and the British Wool Industry,
I have worked on a number of knitwear collections (personal and external companies), whilst freelancing and researching for a number of exciting projects.
My work revolves around the idea of sustainable fashion from a knitted perspective and the different ways to achieve this incorporating the ideas of slow fashion into mainstream society.
I love knitting.
And wool.
And double sided sticky tape.
