Where to get fabrics and trims from?

*Apologies that the photos aren’t that great, balancing my list of what I was looking for/scissors/being masked up/ bag etc, the sheer volume of stock and being in the zone of seeing fabrics, the photos were snapped rather than planned.

I always tell new designers to try and design from fabrics they see rather than design something then source the fabrics afterwards, however after re-visiting a truly awesome fabric and trims warehouse where they stock more than your mind can imagine, I can safely say design away as you will find whatever you have designed in this place.

Tucked away in the countryside of Lincolnshire/Leicestershire is a place called Contour Specialist Fabrics.

Armed with a pair shears as my weapon of choice I ventured around the warehouse and was in heaven. Having last been when I was running Vanjo it is lovely to see is that they have expanded their warehouse and are set to do so again soon. So who are they?

Backstory
Back in 1999 when I was a mere student studying Contour fashion I went and did work experience in my final year at Witham Contours which was a UK lingerie factory owned by Simon Butler (the man behind CSF) so as you can expect the knowledge that he has about lingerie and fabrics surpasses anything I know.

Back in 2005 when I set up Vanjo CSF was my first port of call for fabrics and trims, When I ran Vanjo one of my USPs was that I was an environmentally friendly brand, I used roll ends, which CSF have, gaining stock from manufacturers and fabric and trim suppliers. But CSF is much more than that it has hundreds of fabric rolls, satins, meshes, swimwear, activewear fabrics in every colour and pattern you can imagine.

If you can’t make it to CSF they do have an online store but for a comparison that’s like going to a restaurant and then checking their website and only seeing coffee for sale - on the website you can find findings such as rings and sliders and the lingerie staples such as mesh, powernet, satins and coloured swimwear and more, but if you can visit then I would recommend having a loose list of what you need/want otherwise you may not know where to start. They take morning appointments and considering they ship fabrics worldwide and provide fabrics to big companies Simon and John (his son) will show and go through fabrics you need and fabrics you didn’t even know you needed, and even though their warehouse is stocked high anything I mentioned Simon could pinpoint exactly where it was and anything matching that went with it. Which was a god send and made me feel like I got everything I needed to get.

I would advise though if you see something you love and are doing a big collection or run, then depending on the size of the roll I would purchase the whole roll and there’s nothing worse than designing something and then it’s gone. (I could be speaking from experience!)

Website for Contour Specialist fabrics : www.csfonline.uk - on there you can head to contact page for the address, telephone number and email address.

Lingerie made from the spotty mesh (mesh paid for from ordering off the website).