History was made earlier this week, when the Leicester-based Apparel and Textile Manufacturers Federation (ATMF) was officially launched at the House of Commons.
Chaired by Baroness Verma, a full committee room of supporters, including brands, manufacturers, NGOs, government organisations and politicians joined together on Monday (July 18), to celebrate the launch of a Federation that has been formed to reshape an ethical and sustainable landscape for the UK fashion industry.
It was something that was labelled as “a moment of historical significance in an iconic venue.”
Baroness Verma was fulsome in her praise of the ATMF stating that it was forming at just the right time to help Leicester’s textile industry. She was especially pleased to see such an initiative taking off in her home town of Leicester and pledged government support.
Councillor Adam Clarke, Deputy City Mayor, also praised the establishment of the Federation and applauded Sajjad Khan and his colleagues for bringing an important supplier voice into the council’s work to develop a textiles strategy for the city.
ATMF Founder Saj Khan said: “We would like to thank the people that took the time in the extreme heat to join us to take a giant step forward on our way towards a textiles economy that is fair, sustainable and profitable.
“On Monday we took a stand, a choice to unite and work together to build on our knowledge and lessons learnt from the past to create manufacturing processes that go beyond gold star compliance and an industry that supports the manufacturers in their mission to achieve that.
“It won’t change overnight, we have a great journey ahead of us, but we have our boots pulled up ready. With the level of support we have already gained we know it can be achieved, and it will.”
Baroness Verma ended the meeting with a call to action and for support from funders. She reiterated a point made by Chris Shaw from Embark CSR, a support partner to ATMF that the Federation will only succeed and remain as an independent sustainable entity if financial resources can be identified in this its early start-up phase.
