Designer Goot enters into voluntary administration

ACCLAIMED Australian designer Josh Goot has entered into voluntary administration in a bid to save his business.

Josh Goot and Christine Centenera at the David Jones Spring/Summer 2014 fashion show held at David Jones city store in Sydney.

AUSTRALIAN designer Josh Goot has entered into voluntary administration in a bid to save his business, which this year marks its 10-year anniversary.

The acclaimed designer said in a statement: “The retail market has witnessed a prolonged downturn since the GFC in 2008 and we are proud that we have been able to sustain and grow the business throughout the challenging period, while manufacturing exclusively in Australia.

“We now need to take some time to restructure to protect the long-term interests of the brand and all involved.”

While Goot works with administrators, it is understood to be business as usual, with the autumn/winter collection dropping in March, and design and production under way for the spring/summer collection due out later this year.

While Goot wouldn’t be drawn on specific difficulties facing his business, he conceded there were “well-documented external factors at play within the domestic industry”. These included the once-rising value of the Australian dollar, the small domestic market, the high price of domestic production, the influx of international high street and luxury brands and the targeting of Australian consumers by international online retailers.

“(It’s) fair to say the experience in Australian fashion at the moment is challenging,” Goot told The Australian.

“We are (as a brand), I think, unique in the Australian landscape and that doesn’t necessarily make our experience easier, but I also think that it does give us a real future and that’s what we’re going to be working to secure.

“We’re confident that we can emerge from the voluntary administration as a better business,” he said.

Goot launched his eponymous label in 2005 and in the same year was awarded the Tiffany & Co Young Designer of the Year Award — a benchmark award for emerging talent in Australia.

Over the past 10 years Goot has gained considerable international attention, being championed by style arbiters and retailers including Moda Operandi and MatchesFashion.com, as well as leading publications including Women’s Wear Daily in the US and British Vogue.

Goot’s autumn/winter collection will be showcased on the catwalk at David Jones’s season launch tomorrow night.