The 12th annual PCIAW® Summit, Networking & Awards commenced with a resounding success last week on 2-3 November 2021, sponsored by Milliken & Company at the luxury Hilton London Metropole Hotel.
It was an unmissable opportunity to celebrate the extraordinary achievements of the professional clothing industry and celebrate the sheer scale of talent and entrepreneurial spirit after a challenging year.
The highly-anticipated two-day occasion united the finest and most distinguished voices from the global workwear, corporatewear, and PPE sectors, with over 400 guests and esteemed foreign dignitaries in attendance:
Director General of Economic Activities at the Portuguese Ministry of Economy, Fernanda Ferreira Dias, The Portuguese Ambassador to the UK, His Excellency Manuel Lobo Antunes, The Tunisian Ambassador to Britain, His Excellency Nabil Ben Khedher.
The Summit of Success
The PCIAW® Summit, titled ‘Sustainability: Are You Ready?’ was perfectly timed to coincide with the COP26 Summit, the most significant meeting of world leaders to address climate change since the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The PCIAW® Sustainability Summit was hosted by Charles Ross, Postgraduate Lecturer at The Royal College of Art, featuring over 25 international speakers who educated the industry on the critical topics of upcycling, designing to recycle, sustainable procurement, durability and longevity. The conference shone a spotlight on the industry’s leading players who are making remarkable advances to transform the face of recyclability and textile sustainability.
We are honoured to have hosted a diverse array of industry experts and delegates from every corner of the textiles supply chain, including Adam Mansell, CEO, UKFT, Catherine Salvidge, Sustainable Textiles & Circular Economy, Textiles 2030, Jonas Andersson, GORE-TEX Fabrics Division, Workwear Business Unit, and Paul Bryce, Vice President, Ansell.
Our lively audience had the chance to interact with speakers through an exclusive Q&A session and received complimentary goodie bags with exclusive merchandise from the finest workwear, corporatewear, and PPE companies.
Our international array of over 20 influential speakers included:
- César Araújo, CEO of Calvelex, President of Portugal’s National Association of Clothing and Apparel Industry and PCIAW® Board Director
- Jonathon Jones, OBE, Plimsoll Publishing
- Adam Mansell, UKFT
- Nabil Ben Khedher, Tunisian Ambassador to Great Britain
- Della Nelson and Barbara Grunewald, OCO Global
- Catherine Salvidge, WRAP
- Peter Belk, BITC
- Jonas Andersson, Gore-tex
- Lisa Rosengren, Fristads
- Michael Lock, Gerber Technology
- Ngaire Takano
- Lara Mazzoni, Bodi Me
- Ana Tavares
- Alexandra Steger and Peter Bartsch, Lenzing
- Florent Cottin, DOMO Chemicals
- Tim Cross, Project Plan B
- Annette Mark and Rick van Es, BTK Europe, wear2wear
- Peter Clodd-Broom, Meryl Medical
- Tim Wight, Decontex
- Chris Butcher, BTTG
- Paul Bryce, Ansell
A big thank you to all of our exhibitors:
ANIVEC/ APIV, Altinyildiz, V12 Footwear, Sizer Technologies, Clubclass, Evolve, Workman Group and PDC.
The PCIAW® Awards: an evening to remember
The globally acclaimed PCIAW® Awards ceremony was an industry-wide celebration of international proportions, commemorating the exceptional work of designers, buyers, suppliers, and industry leaders in the professional clothing world.
This extraordinary black-tie ceremony was hosted by PCIAW® Chairman John Miln, Nigel Lugg OBE, Chairman of UKFT, Andrew Newman, Director of Workforce and Volunteering at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, Director General of Economic Activities at the Portuguese Ministry of Economy, Fernanda Ferreira Dias, and Matt Fabyonic, UK & Ireland Head of Sales, PDC.
The PCIAW® was honoured to mark the accomplishments of over 20 industry award winners, with special recognition for the following categories: PPE Innovation of the Year Awards, Suppliers, Distributors, and Manufacturers Awards, Industry Recognition Awards.
Read our full list of winners here
The highest honours of the night were bestowed on David Toon, Karen Burrows, Phil Newman, and Luís Guimarães in the form of the Lifetime Achievement Awards, whilst the Woman of the Year was awarded to Samantha Fernando, Sales Director at Keela.
New to 2021 was the Services to the Pandemic Award, won by Carrington Textiles for its outstanding work in producing over 6 million metres of fabric for frontline workers, and the Key Workers Award, presented to Tina Butler MBE for her heroic leadership of the National Fire Commercial Transformation Programme at the height of the pandemic.
Invigorating talent in the next generation: PCA VISION
Our prestigious PCA VISION Student Design competition was hosted by Harold Tillman CBE, Enterprise and Business Advisor at the London College of Fashion and César Araújo, CEO of Calvelex, President of Portugal’s National Association of Clothing and Apparel Industry and PCIAW® Board Director.
PCA VISION 2021 received exceptional professional clothing designs that demonstrated ingenuity, creativity, and practicality, from students in the UK, Portugal, France, Ireland, and the U.S. The fantastic finalists were honoured onstage after a star-studded fashion show showcasing the calibre of talent and innovation this year.
We’re pleased to announce that the overall winner was Jasmine Young, from Bedford College, UK. Jasmine was presented with a diamond trophy, winners certificate, and a £1000 cheque proudly administered by the PCIAW®.
The PCIAW® would like to extend its gratitude to all of our guests who made this an especially memorable and exceptional occasion for the professional clothing industry.
An event of this calibre could not be possible without the help of our respected sponsors: Milliken & Company, Portugal’s National Association of Clothing and Apparel Industry (ANIVEC/ APIV) and Textile Intelligence Association Centre (CENIT), International Brands Group, Clubclass Corporate Clothing, PDC, Bodi.Me and PULSAR.
Congratulations to all of our winners and highly commended recipients of the night!
We look forward to toasting to a future of continued success at next year’s event…
About PCIAW®
PCIAW® is the member-driven trade association dedicated to the global professional clothing industry, across the entire supply chain for corporatewear, workwear and personal protective equipment (PPE). PCIAW® puts buyers in touch with suppliers and supports the development and growth of our Trusted Member’s businesses. We educate our members and the wider industry and steer the direction towards a more sustainable future by highlighting emerging technologies and initiatives.
Photography: Harry Saunders, Photoface
