Women of Britain Come into the Factories Last week I photographed a wartime poster from 1941 – but I recently discovered that after almost 80 years of striving for equality, we still have a long way to go. Here is my story… I am a knitwear designer based in London and was recently selected onto a programme, managed by an international knitwear company, to go and work with a specialist team and have my collection produced. After two sell-out seasons working on my Bethan Juliff London brand, with press coverage in Vogue and How to Spend it and first-class stockists such as Browns and Feathers, I was forced to take a break from my business as I had caused irreversible damage to my shoulder, back and neck through over use of my knitting machines. My design process relies on specialist, proprietary techniques that I have developed with my machines but I had to stop knitting and focus on getting better – I knew that the next step for my business would be to find a method of external production for my designs. Being selected onto this programme was exactly the opportunity I needed to relaunch my business. It was the chance for me to use the best available knitwear technology, working directly with technicians, fully funded to produce the collection I’ve been developing for the past 18 months, it was a dream come true. Unfortunately, it was all quickly snatched away from me, for no other reason than pure and simple discrimination. I am a new mother, with a 8 month old baby girl – a fact which I had clearly stated on my application for the programme – and my very supportive husband had agreed to take an 8 week break from his own work so that he could travel with me and our daughter, as her full time carer while I worked on the production of my collection. When the knitwear company discovered that I was intending to travel with a family, they promptly told me I was no longer welcome on the programme. They were very clear that my family was their reason for retracting the offer. I am truly shocked and so disappointed to have experienced this kind of discrimination. If they are selecting designers based on their personal circumstances, shouldn’t they, at least, be clear that this opportunity is only available to young, healthy designers without dependants? I have chosen not to name the knitwear company in this post as, like many other victims of discrimination, I am concerned about burning bridges and being seen as a trouble maker. But I knew that I had to say something because if we just accept these situations and don’t speak up about our experiences nothing ever changes. Being a mother does not change my ability to design clothes or run a business, if anything it has made me all the more determined to work hard and show my daughter that anything is (or should) be possible. I’m not angry (although maybe I should be), I’m just very sad that this is the world that we still live in. I see so much change happening in so many industries, signficant strides towards equality being made in broadcasting and financial services, companies in the UK finally being forced to publish their gender pay gaps but there is clearly still a very long way to go.
