Fashion isn’t dead. It’s suffering from a chronic
case of poor PR, uninspired management and a
stagnating business environment. However it is the
perception that fashion is dead that hurts the industry
more than any other contributing factor. Here’s the
reality: the fashion industry is well and truly alive in
Australia – it’s the modus operandi that needs careful
consideration to bring it back to its former glory.
Granted, there are some key components that need to
work in tandem to create sustainable opportunities for
talented Australian designers capable of competing
on the world stage. Let’s start by celebrating the past
and current successes of the industry and overthrow
the pessimistic paradigm that manufacturing in the
difficult and costly Australian legal scape is bad for
business.
The perception that the fashion industry is dead
circulates through every floor of every department,
organisation, government sector and through the
minds of industry professionals. It’s become the
latest buzz term, a plague on the “Promised Land”.
With 40 000 individuals employed in the Australian
Fashion manufacturing industry “we certainly owe
it to them to change this perception” Richard Evans,
CEO of Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of
Australia (TFIA) highlights. As we dig a little deeper
Government initiatives to invest
in fashion industry innovation
and renewal lacks a sense of
direction and purpose. A recent
government initiative labelled
“innovation and renewal” saw
a number of iconic Australian
Fashion retailers, manufacturing
in Australia, receive substantial
to understand exactly who and where these 40 000
people are employed, we discover that the majority
of these compan ies are operating between one to
nineteen employees, manufacturing for small and
medium sized businesses. These SMEs form the
backbone of our economy, and are responsible for the
majority of employment.
Today manufacturing in Australia barely exists with
skeleton manufacturing, as margins get tighter. There
are a number of smaller, independent companies
manufacturing in Australia producing limited
runs that are just too small for the scales of global
manufacturing companies. Standard Universal
Group, Australia’s last standing textile manufacturer
closed its doors recently, stating the ‘’nail in the
coffin’’ was the decision by one of the company’s
largest customers, teen brand SUPRÉ, to source the
majority of its fabric from China. ‘’Mass manufacture
of material in Australia is a dying trade”. At one stage
in the game, the SUPRÉ manufacturing mix was 60%
production offshore and 40% locally in Australia. It
gave the company the flexibility to respond quickly
to demand and deliver fast affordable fashion to
retail stores within 10 days. The trend to offshore
is a growing threat hurting our local talent and
employment.