Great British Sewing Bee star Patrick Grant among XpoNorth online craft and fashion experts

Anyone who missed out on hearing from fashion, craft and textiles industry leaders including designer and judge of The Great British Sewing Bee, Patrick Grant, at this year’s XpoNorth 2021 Creative Industries Conference is being offered a chance to catch up.

Key sessions from the programme are now available to play back on the XpoNorth YouTube channel.

This year’s industry sessions included The Future of Retail. A panel of experts including Nicole Vanderbilt, UK Managing Director of bookshop.org and Andrew Jennings OBE, senior global retail executive, discuss the challenges that lie ahead following a year like no other in the retail landscape. The panel explore the future of retail considering online vs bricks and mortar, how small retailers can compete in a competitive space, provenance and addressing the consumer experience.

Edinburgh-born fashion designer and entrepreneur Patrick Grant shares his passion for regional making and for future considerations in the textile fashion sector. Patrick talks about making clothes to "cherish" and keep for more than one season, using good quality materials that last and are produced in the local area.

XpoNorth 2021 returned virtually for the second year in June and attracted creative industry leaders, academics, investors and makers and creators from around the world.

The event, which took 12 months to plan, was delivered by Ironworks Venue. The whole team supported the delivery of 46 sessions covering a wide range of creative economy topics with 90 international, high-level speakers contributing to the programme.

XpoNorth’s fashion, craft and textile sector specialist, Joan Johnston said: “The Highlands, Islands and Moray have a wonderful creative community of makers across many disciplines. At XpoNorth we invite speakers to inspire and inform this creative community, sharing insights into future developments. From trend forecasting with WGSN, looking at influences and behaviours of customers to hearing from highly experienced international designers and retailers, there is much to take away from the conference content.”

In Joan’s other upcoming session on November 17, she will be discussing strategic brand partnerships, joined by Ken Pratt. Having worked with a range of start-up/SMEs in fashion, design, perfumery, craft food and spirits, Ken is highly experienced in securing partnerships ranging from artisan makers to hotel chains and airlines. Register here to participate and visit www.xponorth.co.uk for information about future events.

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