Craft Business

Twiggy's Frock Exchange, hosted by renowned fashion model and America's Next Top Model judge Twiggy, encourages 100 women to swap clothes and recycle their old clothing. A qualified dress maker is on hand in the 'craft area' to customise any out-of-date items, transforming old-school get ups into fashionable new designs. The show encourages viewers to make their own clothing and accessories using traditional crafting methods such as sewing, knitting and crochet, exploring contemporary ways to incorporate traditional techniques into modern day fashion. The most recent show featured a knitting expert successfully crocheting a piece of jewellery using wire.

This is great news for craft retailers hoping to boost their sales in the run up to Christmas and capitalise on the recent 'make it yourself' trend. “I think it is excellent for anyone to promote local haberdashery stores as there are so few, says Hilary Berkin, co-owner of embroidery shop Willow Fabrics. “People just don't do their own things nowadays because there is so much cheap clothing around. Many don't bother producing outfits themselves anymore, and I'm a maker, so I should know. I can't say whether it will definitely lead to higher sales but I would like to think it will. A lot of those viewers the programme is targeted at don't have the basic skills people of my generation were taught at school so I think it's a really great idea.”