Cathryn and Fazane are fellow Derby girls and even went to the same senior school! (not at the same time though obviously!)
Cathryn started in the industry on a YTS Training scheme at Courtaulds in Heanor at the young age of 16. She started on the factory floor, and was quickly promoted to ‘floater’ which is a role that basically covers anyone off sick so gained experience in all areas.
She then went onto run the training school for school leavers and during this time got the opportunity to go to Sri Lanka and help set-up a brand new factory called Slimline that Courtaulds had built.
A year later she then had the opportunity to go to Morocco and help a struggling factory turn itself around. What started as a 12 month stay ended up being 4 years.
She came back to the UK age 30 with a new husband in tow (that’s another story!) and carried on working for Courtaulds, now as a Garment Technologist rather than on the factory floor, and became the Moroccan Team Manager working on Ladieswear, Menswear, Childrenswear, Sportswear and many other areas.
A few years later she moved onto the Marks & Spencer team at Courtaulds to work on Swimwear and Beachwear and spent 5 years doing this.
Unfortunately after 23 years with Courtaulds they moved more production off-shore and her entire team was made redundant.
She then joined Crystal Martin International as a Garment Technologist on the Lingerie Team running the shapewear and thermals department for Marks & Spencer. After 9 years in that role she was unfortunately made redundant again.
She then went to work for Romans Ladieswear across all ladieswear for around a year but eventually the travelling got too much, so went to work at Dimensions a workwear supplier. She didn’t really enjoy the role so when someone mentioned that Fazane was looking for a Garmentec, Cathryn jumped at the chance!
Cathryn came in for half a day to see if she liked us, but what Fazane didn’t tell her was that she would be fitting dog coats on real dogs! Fazane sat in the corner giggling at Cathryn rolling around on the floor in a posh dress and heels trying to get them to stand still so she could take measurements. How could she not give her a job after that effort?!
A much-valued member of our team, Cathryn has now been with us for over 4 years and is an accomplished garment technologist with over 38 years of international experience, and what she doesn’t know about clothing isn’t worth knowing.
She is energetic and enthusiastic and thrives under pressure to meet deadlines and achieve targets, she loves working at our production agency and will not be allowed to retire ever!!
Get in touch to turn
your idea into reality
Whether you’re a startup or an established designer, we can take your ideas and make your designs a reality.
