Hong Kong has a unique heritage in textile manufacturing but the heritage is disappearing. Top quality sewing workers have moved to low income and low skilled jobs since factories moved to China. There are very limited avenues available to fashion design graduates to develop their design and entrepreneurial potentials.

 

SMT is driven by the aspiration to connect the dots between talent, skills and innovations, and aspire to become a small business that can play a role in revitalizing the “Made in Hong Kong” label. SMT strives to be the platform supporting small apparel business startups, creating meaningful job opportunities for displaced skillful workers, and to nurture the next generation of artisan garment makers.

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In 2010, Agnes, Founder of SMT, was responsible for rolling out an empowerment programme sponsored by her employer company which closed its Hong Kong factories in that year.  Of the 300 female sewing workers, some of them had not excellent sewing skills, but also management experience in small factories in the 1980s. After the closure of the factories, Agnes continued to stay in touch with these workers. Many of them were unemployed because of their age, or doing low-skilled and low paid part-time jobs.

 

Agnes believes that given the resources and the right environment, these workers could still play a productive role in society. She incorporated Sew Much Talent in 2012.