This was published 4 years ago
'Buy Australian, or we may be gone in six months': Fashion's plea
The fashion industry has a reputation for being a competitive, even catty, space. But Australian designers have united to send a clear powerful message: support us, or we won't be around when this is over.
Nikki Campbell, of SIR The Label, said at first she was "really positive about the whole thing then the last two weeks have hit quite quickly".
Fight for survival: Designers Nikki Campbell (left) and Sophie Coote, of SIR the Label.Credit: Janie Barrett
Campbell and her business partner, Sophie Coote, are trying to keep their brand running from her apartment near Sydney's Tamarama Beach. And while online sales have been "doing well", the pair agree there's a misconception in the market that brands can easily make up the ground they have lost by temporarily shuttering their physical stores.
"It’s taken a lot more work and focus [to get results]," Campbell says. "We have shifted in our crisis management. We are sitting on a lot more stock. Online, thank god for it, but it’s not enough to maintain our entire business."
Leila Naja Hibri, chief executive of the Australian Fashion Council, has heard devastating stories of brands having negative sales days, when returns outnumber sales, and thinks most fashion brands are at least 80 per cent down on their regular takings.
The industry needs support to make it through, which is why the council and a cohort of labels, including SIR, are joining a new initiative dubbed We Wear Australian.
Ms Naja Hibri remains positive that the crisis response to the pandemic could be a "propeller" for positive change within the industry, and business more broadly.
"[Our industry is] small enough, agile enough and young enough to change and show the rest of the world we can choose to put people over profit, creativity over business, and [protect] the planet ... money will be an outcome but it won't be the ‘why’, it won't be the reason for existing," she says.
The We Wear Australian campaign is the brainchild of industry figure Richard Poulson and is encouraging the public to support Australian-owned fashion brands wherever possible through special offers running throughout April. In return, participating brands will donate a share of profits or excess stock to two charities, Dress for Success, which works with the fashion industry to help underprivileged people trying to enter work, and Thread Together, which redistributes excess stock to needy communities.
Ms Naja Hibri acknowledges that while not everyone has the disposable income at the moment to buy new clothes, the campaign is about preferencing Australian-owned brands wherever possible, or they may not be around in six months' time.
She says while many Australian-owned brands manufacture overseas, "their head offices are here, they export, they attract tourism – all of that adds up to a lot ... A lot of the dollars are for Australia.
"We're on the brink of something terrible if we don't do something about it."
For Campbell and Coote, their focus is on releasing small "drops" of stock monthly that favours basics and comfort wear. Then, it's about preparing for the hopeful post-corona boom.
"If you think about all the things that are keeping people positive [right now], it is the arts, the music, the fashion," Campbell says. "We’re not saying spend when you can't afford ... but we would love to support our local industry and ensure it survives."
Melbourne-based social enterprise founder Laura Conti has launched her own initiative, #LoveAustralian, to support local small businesses, from homewares to baby goods.
"There are always goods you’re going to buy," Conti says. "Just find a way that supports the community."
For details, visit wewearaustralian.com or instagram.com/love.australian.