Eight million tonnes of plastic waste go into our oceans every year. Even worse, it is expected that by 2050, there will be more plastic by weight than fish in the oceans. And this was before the COVID-19 crisis.

Many journalists have likened the situation in which we find ourselves to World War 2. In truth, there are far more differences than similarities – but certainly there are parallels to be seen in fashion. For WW2 altered fashion’s shape, just as COVID-19 is forcing large scale change on the industry now.

This paper is intended to provide useful directions for new manufacturers of Covid-19 PPE for healthcare and for other key workers. The OPSS PPE Legislation Guidance for Businesses (PPE Regulations) includes guidelines for importers, but this category is not addressed in the current research paper. This is a research paper and it is advised you seek and consult the relevant legal and professional advice for manufacturing PPE equipment.

Last week, our CEO Tamara Cincik was asked by the UK government to create an informative vlog explaining the work Fashion Roundtable have been doing on PPE procurement for our NHS heroes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Watch here:

As an organisation, Fashion Roundtable facilitate collaboration between the worlds of politics and fashion; bridging the gap between policy makers and creative leaders. In the past few weeks, our role quickly became vital to facilitating conversations between UK government and manufacturers with the capacity to produce masks and personal protective clothing for the NHS and wider public.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, Fashion Roundtable have been pursuing PPE solutions within the industry, ensuring industry workers are protected, lobbying for pay parity for fashion industry workers, and facilitating other initiatives.

As the fashion industry has been upended with lower volumes, idle workers and restless energy, brands have turned their efforts towards doing what they can to help tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. Here we take a look at the relief efforts across the world.

Currently we are working from home and around the clock to ensure support for the fashion industry and wider afield during the pandemic. While the lines between the days are becoming blurred, we are grateful for the strength amongst our community.

“Like many other fashion freelancers in the UK, this has been a nail-biting couple of weeks for me. Since Covid-19 hit the UK, all of my talks and workshops have been postponed, all freelance hours have been cut, leaving me with very little income until normality commences.”

Kate Hills, Founder, Make It British: “We are working on finding all of the UK manufacturers that can switch production to provide an end-to-end solution for PPE that is made locally. Whilst the government is currently concentrating on importing these products, this is a short term solution. Once these resources dry up, which they will do as global demand increases, we will need to tap into the manufacturing base that we have in the UK. We have had amazing support from a diverse range of manufacturers and I have every confidence that the UK textile industry is able to adapt and be agile enough to cope with the challenges ahead.”