Fashion's Front and Back

Question: Summarise in your own words how the spaces where fashion is made are connected to the spaces where fashion is sold in this article.

My Response: In Christopher Breward's article, he explains how the relationship between where fashion is made and sold works tightly together as the work rooms were close by to the shops. They were either behind, upstairs or in the streets behind in order for the shop to then be able to easily and quickly communicate with the makers. If items were popular, needed in different sizes or weren't selling well then the shop owners could go and tell the makers this information in order for them to respond to it quickly which meant the shop was always selling well and being able to supply customers with anything they needed. As back then there wasn't the ability to quickly connect online, it was essential that they were close by in order to allow the shop and makers to responsive to each other.

Question: Look at the photograph of the C&A factory in Islington. How does this production space compare to modern factories? Compare and contrast with examples both in Britain and abroad.

My Response: In the image from Fashion's Front and Back, you see quite a restricted space where the workers have minimum space to sew and there seems to be no concern for the health and safety of the women. Another thing I noticed is how there are only women workers in the image, each dressed in a white over coat. In factories now, it wouldn't be likely to see only female workers and although there probably would be restricted space as there are more workers, it is more usual in factories now for each worker to have a workspace of their own as opposed to all sitting along one bench. As a health and safety precaution now a days, you see workers at their own station to prevent fabrics being misplaced or wrapped in machines that could be hazardous. I found that in images of more modern factories, you can see that they have scaled up enormously as the factories now house a lot more workers due to the rapid demand for clothing. However, when I began looking at factories abroad, a lot of them where in china or japan and showed a very different image to those in Britain. The factories are compact and confided just like the C&A factory. There is an overcrowding of workers with little room for them to actually work and you get a sense that the conditions are hot and sweaty due to the amount of bodies in the space. There's a distinct difference between the fashion factories now a days in Britain and abroad. There is also a contrast between the british factories now and back in 1955 but what I was surprised to see is the little difference between factories abroad and the C&A factory in 1955.

Factory in China

Modern British Factory

The C&A Factory 1955