New Fashion Business Skills in Practice:
An approach for Global Collaboration and Sustainability
What Others Have to Say…
“Having been on the receiving end of advice and support from some extraordinary people over the years, I am committed to try and help other women in business to succeed and develop their skills in turn.” Gaby Cove, Head of Photo and Video for Conde Nast Digital, and core member of SPINNA Circle Advisory Group “SPINNA Circle empowers women in textiles and is a fantastic platform for support, growth and network for creative females living their dream and making it happen….SPINNA Circle is doing everything so well, the one-on-one session is very useful.” Arlette Lee, former delegate on SPINNA Circle NatWest Business Mentoring Programme “SPINNA Circle was a unique experience for me and all the artisan women. It helped us to look at our skills with new perspective.” Dilobar Sanginova, Founder - Women's Development Agency, Khujand, Tajikistan 
Hands-On Learning with SPINNA
Benefits of Attending
Whatever the level of your business idea right now, be it a creative concept, a start-up, or an established SME, this course will give you the skills, connections and confidence to:
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Short Course (5 Days)
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Partners and Organizations
SPINNA Circle
Like many great ideas SPINNA was forged over a passionate conversation and coffee in a café in Paris, in November 2009. SPINNA began life as a project run by Clothing Connect (http://www.clothing-connect.com/) to engage with more women textile workers and company owners globally to encourage managerial and entrepreneurial development. In April 2010 Rupa Ganguli launched SPINNA as a unique foundation that has since run several programmes that further its vision of economic empowerment of women through trade and developing their businesses in the textiles and fashion sectors. In 2012, SPINNA Circle (also referred to as SPINNA) was launched in the UK as a non-profit organisation. SPINNA is made up of a network of entrepreneur/ artisan groups called ‘circles’ locally and globally, which connect with each other using a ‘hub and spoke’ approach. SPINNA supports the growth of women entrepreneurs and artisans across the fashion and textiles industry by linking them with each other and providing training, mentoring and business opportunities. SPINNA also engages with mainstream fashion textile retail businesses which have a focus and interest in supporting and empowering women workers and promoting gender equity. In September 2016, SPINNA Circle organised a panel discussion entitled, ‘Leading the way for inclusive trade through innovation in fashion and textiles: can women entrepreneurs become the norm rather than an exception?’ at the World Trade Organization (WTO) Public Forum in Geneva, bringing women business owners, artisans, policy makers and government together to make a real impact on the way the business of fashion and textiles is conducted to make trade in textiles and clothing truly inclusive. By taking part in this programme you can become part of SPINNA’s global membership and begin to contribute to new ways of doing business.
Like many great ideas SPINNA was forged over a passionate conversation and coffee in a café in Paris, in November 2009. SPINNA began life as a project run by Clothing Connect (http://www.clothing-connect.com/) to engage with more women textile workers and company owners globally to encourage managerial and entrepreneurial development. In April 2010 Rupa Ganguli launched SPINNA as a unique foundation that has since run several programmes that further its vision of economic empowerment of women through trade and developing their businesses in the textiles and fashion sectors. In 2012, SPINNA Circle (also referred to as SPINNA) was launched in the UK as a non-profit organisation. SPINNA is made up of a network of entrepreneur/ artisan groups called ‘circles’ locally and globally, which connect with each other using a ‘hub and spoke’ approach. SPINNA supports the growth of women entrepreneurs and artisans across the fashion and textiles industry by linking them with each other and providing training, mentoring and business opportunities. SPINNA also engages with mainstream fashion textile retail businesses which have a focus and interest in supporting and empowering women workers and promoting gender equity. In September 2016, SPINNA Circle organised a panel discussion entitled, ‘Leading the way for inclusive trade through innovation in fashion and textiles: can women entrepreneurs become the norm rather than an exception?’ at the World Trade Organization (WTO) Public Forum in Geneva, bringing women business owners, artisans, policy makers and government together to make a real impact on the way the business of fashion and textiles is conducted to make trade in textiles and clothing truly inclusive. By taking part in this programme you can become part of SPINNA’s global membership and begin to contribute to new ways of doing business.
Middlesex University
For more than 130 years, Middlesex University has been home to great minds with a determined and unwavering ambition to improve our world throughout learning, teaching and research. The roots of the institution go back to St Katherine’s College in Tottenham, which was established in 1878. Seven additional colleges and training institutions across North London followed, coming together to form Middlesex Polytechnic in 1973. Nearly two decades later Middlesex University was granted university status by royal assent to become the world-class institution it’s know as today – with campuses in Dubai, Malta and Mauritius and trusted academic partnerships stretching across the globe. It is the university’s ambition to create positive change in the world by making a lasting impression on society, business and the wider world around us.
Middlesex University and SPINNA Circle signed a Memorandum of Intent (MoI) on 21 January 2015 which recognises their common interest to cooperatively pursue activities and projects that build economic growth and enhance research and business opportunities for artisans and designers, women entrepreneurs and professionals in the fashion, textiles and accessories industry.
NatWest
NatWest is committed to building a responsible and sustainable business; taking responsibility for their customers, communities, employees and environment. SPINNA and NatWest have been working together since September 2013 on the SPINNA Circle NatWest Business Mentoring Programme which has supported more than 50 designers, businesses and entrepreneurs to grow their business to the next level. SPINNA Circle is delighted to continue the working relationship with NatWest to develop new and bespoke opportunities to mentor and support new and emerging businesses in the fashion and textiles sector and to the meet needs of entrepreneurs working to ensure gender equity and sustainable business practices.
Working together to offer you a truly unique opportunity
This short course builds upon the workshop offered jointly by SPINNA Circle, Middlesex University and NatWest during Global Entrepreneurship Week 2015. This course is a truly unique opportunity as it brings together the shared wealth of expertise and experience from fashion and textiles industry, academia, business and finance to offer you joined-up perspectives on how to build the USP for your label/ brand/ business that have the potential to change the ways that business is done.
Your Tutors for the week include:
Emma Dick
MA (Oxon) MDes PGCHE FHEA Senior Lecturer in Fashion Visual Culture, Middlesex University London Director, Projects & Training, SPINNA Circle Emma Dick is Lecturer in Visual Culture Fashion at Middlesex University London and Director of Projects & Training for SPINNA Circle. She read Turkish with Islamic Art & Archaeology at the University of Oxford and holds a Masters degree in Design Practice (Textiles as Fashion) from Glasgow School of Art. Emma has lived and worked in Turkey and Singapore, where she was Head of Fashion at LASALLE College of the Arts (2007-2010) and collaborated on the vocational curriculum in Tailoring project for the Royal Government of Bhutan with UNDP Bhutan and Singapore International Foundation. Emma travels frequently throughout Central Asia for SPINNA Circle projects and associated research and knowledge transfer activities. During 2014 SPINNA Circle managed and implemented the USAID-funded grant in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, 'Empowering women in Central Asia by building capacity and linking markets through setting up SPINNA Circle hubs' working with over 100 women from the region. This work is continuing in 2016 with further research and project implementation in the Central Asian region. In the UK, Emma works closely with our partners at NatWest to develop content and activities for the SPINNA Circle NatWest Business Mentoring Programme, which has been going strong since 2013. You can read more about Emma’s ongoing teaching at Middlesex University, research and latest publications here. |
Rupa Ganguli
Founder and Director, SPINNA Circle Managing Director, Clothing Connect B.V. Managing Partner, Designers’ Intrigue Rupa has over 15 years of global experience across various segments and aspects of the textiles and clothing value chain. She started her first business venture, at the age of seventeen, selling affordable fashion to college students in Mumbai, India. Her career in International Trade and Development started with an internship at the World Trade Organization (WTO) after which she joined the United Nations agency, International trade Centre (ITC) in Geneva and was instrumental in setting up the first-ever benchmarking software tool for clothing manufacturers globally. She went on to serve as the Advisor for textiles and clothing at this UN agency. In addition to facilitating public private partnerships and negotiating access for small and medium enterprises in the mainstream of business, she also advised, designed and implemented integrated textiles and clothing sector development programmes across South, Central and South East Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Rupa is currently the Managing Director of Clothing Connect b.v, a specialised textile and apparel industry consulting company. She also founded and runs a non-profit organization: SPINNA Circle, which focuses on empowering women in textiles and fashion globally. SPINNA Circle is a signatory to several international projects and has active hubs in many parts of the world. Rupa has published several articles and papers on clothing industry value chains globally. Further details are available on Linked In. Rupa is a fellow of The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) and a fellow of The School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) |
Nick Howe
Enterprise Manager, Diversity in Business, NatWest Nick Howe, Enterprise Manager, Diversity in Business at NatWest, has worked for 18 years with businesses of all different shapes, sizes and sectors. Nick hugely enjoys working with new ideas and innovations and applying knowledge based on previous business successes to enable new creative ideas to come to fruition. Nick says, “Starting a business is easy but making a viable business is the actual challenge facing those starting out today. By working with SPINNA Circle we are able to blend the challenges that most businesses need to tackle and adapt to, with the specialist knowledge and contact network that is vital to a business entering the fashion industry.” |
