Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest and Gina Rinehart revive renowned bootmakers R.M. Williams and Rossi
Australia’s two wealthiest people, Gina Rinehart and Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, are duking it out over the revival of two Aussie icons, creating hundreds of jobs in the process.
SA News
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Australia’s two wealthiest people are reviving renowned homegrown boots brands, creating hundreds of jobs in an extension of their rivalry.
Billionaire mining and pastoral magnates Gina Rinehart and Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest are ploughing part of their fortunes – worth $37.1bn and $35.21bn respectively – into Adelaide bush apparel brands R.M. Williams and Rossi.
The larger, iconic R.M. Williams – returned to Australian ownership in late 2020 by Andrew and Nicola Forrest’s Tattarang firm – has just opened a new Adelaide workshop, adding 151 jobs and expanding the workforce by 46 per cent.
A third production line will be dedicated to women’s apparel, allowing the addition of 20 styles to the current five.
Launching during the next year, these will include more heel heights, different leather types, lace-up boots and wider fits.
Mrs Rinehart, the chair of iconic pastoral company S. Kidman & Co, on December 15 announced that firm had acquired Rossi Boots, founded in Adelaide by Arthur Rossiter in 1910 in a backyard shed.
Proudly declaring the acquisition more than just a business decision, Mrs Rinehart said it was a “recognition of our national history”, emphasising Rossi’s manufacturing excellence would remain in Australian hands and expand into new markets.
It is understood Kidman is now assessing options for a major expansion of Australian manufacturing, which Mrs Rinehart has said will involve new products including Kidman boots and an “agriculture-inspired fashion line”.
Mrs Rinehart is pitching the Kidman boots as bringing back affordable leather boots to Australians – a subtle dig at the bigger and better-known R.M. Williams line that retails from $649 for a leather Craftsman.
However, R.M. Williams has flourished, with record growth since the Forrests’ 2020 takeover, after which the couple in July announced their separation.
Chief executive officer Paul Grosmann told this masthead the firm was doubling in capacity with the new workshop, just south of the existing Salisbury South production facility, in Adelaide’s north.
“It’s a brand-new site that we’re increasing new capabilities for our boots, women’s line, clothing and craft,” he said.
“It’s really exciting. The business is in a great spot. We’ve had not just one year but multiple years of incredible growth.
“Since the Forrests and Tattarang have taken ownership of R.M. Williams, they’ve grown the workforce here in Adelaide by about 38 per cent. We’re now a team of over 500 people, so incredible growth in a period of around three years.
“We’re going to need more people next year as we bring on new footwear lines for women and for boot repairs.
“Part of the growth ambitions have been around expanding into different areas like women’s boots, so part of the expansion will be a dedicated women’s boots line.
“A dedicated repairs line – it’s very much part of our DNA it’s not just about making new boots but how do we repair and bring that circularity to life.”
Mr Grosmann said a sales surge had been underpinned by investment in products and stores, particularly attracting younger people to the renowned label, founded in 1932 by legendary bushman and entrepreneur Reginald Murray Williams in his father’s shed at 5 Percy St, in the Adelaide inner northern suburb of Prospect.
The site is now a retail outlet that hosts the R.M. Williams Outback Heritage Museum.
“There’s not one answer (behind booming sales). We’ve got a big growth in our young consumer, a big growth in our women’s consumer, and that helps,” Mr Grosmann said.
R.M. Williams chief operating officer Tara Moses, who leads the Adelaide workshops, said the new women’s line would be released within months.
“That’s taking all the women’s production that’s currently on our two lines and isolating it under a third line, but it’s going to allow us to completely expand that product line,” she said.
“So today, we only have about four to five different women’s styles. We’ll be adding 20 more styles over the next 12 months.
“Then we’ve got more heels coming – more heel heights, lots of different leather types, and then lace-up boots as well – all for women.”
Rossi Boots in 2021 vowed to reopen its Kilburn factory, having bought the assets of its failed manufacturer, which collapsed the previous November with the loss of 35 jobs.
This followed Propel Group and Adelaide investment firm GP Securities taking a majority stake in Rossi Boots in April 2020 following a restructure.
Mrs Rinehart’s foray into fashion started in early December with the purchase of Driza-Bone, the makers of iconic oilskin jackets and also previously owned by the Propel Group.
Detailing the Rossi purchase, Mrs Rinehart emphasised a long history of top-quality manufacturing, including iconic lines such as the Original Ripple Sole Desert Boot, launched in 1950, and the renowned Endura Sole, introduced in 1993 and the bootmaker’s most popular style.
“From being worn on stations and farms around the country, to supplying hundreds of thousands of pairs to our soldiers in WWI and WWII, Rossi represents the heart and soul of Australian craftsmanship and embodies the quintessential Australian spirit of hard work, resilience and quality,” Mrs Rinehart said.
Unveiling the prototype Kidman boot, Mrs Rinehart said this was the beginning of a new fashion venture and would bring back affordable leather boots to Australians.
Like her fellow WA billionaire, Mrs Rinehart has emphasised the importance of preserving iconic Australian brands like Rossi, Driza-Bone and S. Kidman & Co.
This passion is steeped in her family history, as she evoked in 2016 when touring Kidman’s headquarters, then in North Adelaide, after becoming principal owner and chair.
At the time, Mrs Rinehart said she was proud that Kidman founder Sir Sidney Kidman and her grandfather, James Nicholas, were long-term friends and business partners.
“I’m a great admirer of my grandfather … who my mother always let me know was a very fine gentleman and person – in fact, a great Australian,” she said.
The tycoons might be poles apart in some areas but their ideological commitment to Australian manufacturing and bush brands, forged by their pastoral upbringing, is maintaining and expanding apparel icons for new generations of consumers.
More Coverage
Originally published as Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest and Gina Rinehart revive renowned bootmakers R.M. Williams and Rossi
Polites legal feud: Matriarch’s $27m property empire transfer
As the legal battle rages over the Polites matriarch’s property empire, a new analysis of property records show extensive movements of assets across family companies. Read what she owned.
Telstra outage leaves thousands without service in Adelaide Hills
A large part of the Adelaide Hills is currently experiencing a widespread Telstra outage for the second time in a week – amid suggestions a cable may have been deliberately cut.