Heard a guy on a radio call-in waxing lyrical about Britain’s ‘fantastic’ clothing industry & how he couldn’t understand why our factories weren’t making PPE. It got me thinking about manufacturing & the idea of the factory, and about where people think their clothes come from. 1

If Covid-19 had hit in the 1960s or 70s, yes, we probably could have turned hundreds of thousands of professional cutters, machinists, finishers, and pressers to the task of making scrubs and other PPE. 2

But unfortunately, our ‘fantastic clothing industry’, which was a vibrant, powerful manufacturing sector in the 1970s, is now a shadow of its former self. What happened to it? 3

By the early 1980s (following a deep recession and the subsequent rise of an emboldened Conservative government), it had taken a battering. The government condemned it as a ‘sunset’ industry and left it to rot. 4

Pleas for support fell on deaf ears and the Tories were alone in Europe in withdrawing from, rather than investing in, fashion manufacturing. They saw it as unskilled work for unskilled (!!!) women. 5

By 1984, the industry had shed 126000 jobs, or 43% of total employment from 1971 levels, and things only got worse as powerful multiple retailers eyed-up manufacturing capacity in developing countries. 6

Despite all this, it was still a force to be reckoned with. That same year, it produced goods worth £400 million – more than the value of the output of the motor industry. 7

In 1986 Jeff Banks was at a reception at 10 Downing Street. Chatting to Denis Thatcher, he brought up the difficulties in the trade. Denis was unimpressed, barked that the whole industry was full of ‘ponces & parasites’ & flounced off, leaving Banks rightly infuriated. 8

By that point consumers were increasingly addicted to cheap gear made in factories in developing countries and sold by multiples who were also screwing British manufacturers on price. 9

Because of this, domestic manufacturing became untenable, & numbers of factories dwindled as more & more manufacturing was off-shored until by the end of the century only a few survivors remained in business & old factory buildings were bulldozed or turned into luxury flats. 10

Despite my rambling, this is obviously an abridged analysis. But the point is, yes, if we still had a rag trade it could be making PPE in significant volume. 11

But we don’t, and so it falls to the thousands of skilled people (some very experienced, some intrepid learners, and mostly women from what I see) sewing at home and performing this essential ‘unskilled’ work. And BRAVA to each and every one of them. FIN. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/23/the-volunteers-making-ppe-on-the-homefront-for-uk-healthworkers-coronavirus