I sold a coat recently to an inspiring woman, Janice Blackburn, who is a writer and curator - or should I say - the writer and curator on contemporary craft. She is also a huge supporter of emerging makers and artists and understood what I was doing in a second. As a result, within weeks I'd been interviewed for Crafted and now I'm on the programme.

My mentor is not 100% confirmed yet so you will have to wait for the next post on the subject. Part of the deal is that we keep a log of the year so I shall be using the blog to do just that. In addition, we have a range of seminars and individual meetings with experts. I've got a meeting set up with a chartered accountant, who is unlikely to have looked at businesses as modest as mine for a few years.

The process is about developing the markets for crafted luxury products. We have a rich heritage and skilled makers in this country and the mentors we will be working with are proof of this, as many of them have been pioneers at producing at this quality and selling successfully.

We had our first session recently at the HTML Prince's Foundation in Shoreditch, East London. This was a perfect setting, of course, because the Foundation works to support traditional skills (beyond architecture into design). We met the mentors and also the other craft makers on the programme. I had a great chat with bespoke shoemakers carréducker and we're thinking of doing something together as a result.

The experience has really made me think about my label and where I fit in the market. In the debate at our first meeting there was also a hinted-at sense that the luxury industry had recently lost its way and credibility as a result of outsourcing and losing connections with the makers. This is very close to my heart. My fabrics dictate my prices and the way we produce is clearly going to make this a luxury product. I'm a little uncomfortable about the connotations of the word luxury, which can alienate people, especially some sectors of my market. However, this is where I sit much more in fact than the 'ethical or sustainable sector'. I am very influenced by the wwf report Deeper Luxury and feel that this is what I'm trying to do. That is, create a beautifully crafted product that is deeply sustainable and long lasting. In the end, this is real value for money. It's a healthy brand of consumerism.

We were asked what we hoped to get out of this process. I need to find more customers and so I'm hoping to answer the questions around whether my decision to wholesale (and show at trade fairs such as London Fashion Week) is a correct one and how to access my customers. I feel it is about repositioning the label more in the luxury sector, but I shall wait to see how my mentoring experience evolves.

I am also interested in being part of the luxury goods sector in the way that I am now very well established in the ethical fashion sector. I feel that there is great potential for pioneering sustainable brands in the luxury sector. They can lead the way and should have the resources to do so much more easily than the faster moving high street labels who seem to only be able to produce out of places like China.

So, I wait to share more news in due course. In the meantime, we've got an exciting launch evening at Soane coming up.