Could AI hold the key to bringing fashion production closer to home?

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Could artificial intelligence hold the key to reviving Made in UK?

Last week, the UK industry got a boost when British knitwear company John Smedley announced a £4.5 million investment in restarting its third-party manufacturing after a 40-year hiatus. However, the fact remains that less than 3 per cent of clothes worn in the UK in 2023 were manufactured domestically, according to Fibre2Fashion. The vast majority is still made in countries like China, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Pakistan.

Amid an onslaught of sustainability legislation that will demand much greater transparency in the fashion supply chain — alongside a recent pull back from China amid the US-China trade dispute — there’s a growing drive to bring manufacturing closer to home. But challenges remain for doing it at scale. Technology could play a transformative role, experts say.

“Unfortunately, the weavers, the spinners, the dyers — they don’t exist [in the UK] anymore,” says Simon Platts, CEO of circularity platform Recomme and former director of responsible sourcing at Asos. “The old days have gone, so it’s about how we use artificial intelligence and innovative technology to revitalise the industry.”

Elliot Barlow, manufacturing consultant at the UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT) believes AI has the potential to influence reshoring opportunities in the UK. He points to small-batch responsive manufacturing, which uses AI programmes to account for current stock levels while tracking market and consumer purchasing behaviour. Some brands and manufacturers are testing an on-demand model.

“AI can support this by calculating, optimising and reconfiguring workflows, bringing brands and manufacturers closer together,” Barlow says, adding that recent trials show that lead times can be reduced to as little as five to 10 days from order to completion.

These applications for AI are already being developed through various projects, such as those supported by the £1.8 million industry-funded Circular Innovation Fashion Network (CFIN), of which UKFT is a partner. However, Barlow believes it will be a couple of years before there is a sufficient critical mass of retailer-sized production orders going through the UK manufacturing industry to fundamentally determine whether AI can support reshoring at scale.

Reduced lead times, better forecasting

Academic institutions in the UK are driving research and development of AI and other technologies that could drastically improve supply chain efficiency, which would pave the way for an increase in manufacturing.