Australia's fashion exports

In order to maintain brand presence, Australian designers are starting to show collections that are trans-seasonal, which is helping to increase cross-seasonal sales and acquire customers in the northern hemisphere. It’s a big job for any design team to run different seasons in parallel, but necessary for brands to stay competitive.

“This is a bit difficult to juggle in terms of business flow,” admits Easton, “but we get around it by manufacturing twice—once for the northern hemisphere and once for the southern hemisphere, so that we are delivering to each market in the correct season.

“A lot of our stuff is also now trans-seasonal, and this is a general global trend across all fashion industries and markets.”

Nearly Nude is non-seasonal, and Hosken attributes half the success of the business to this. “Our stuff is a range of basics that’s non-seasonal and when I’m selling here to Australia in summer, I’m selling overseas in winter, so I’ve got both ends hedged really.”

Cultural Borders

Fashion can also be very market and culture-specific, so exporters should be aware that what is considered fashionable and stylish will differ considerably between markets. “[Fashion exporters] need to consider the lifestyle of the audience [they are targeting] and adapt colour, garment practicality and fabric choices to suit the targeted climates, lifestyle, and market group,” advises Gualtieri.

Certain social laws will dictate to what extent certain parts of the body should be covered, and even the models displaying products should reflect the target market, advises Sutton.

Easton Pearson, for example, have had to adapt their sizing and hemlines for markets such as Japan and the Middle East, and while Hosken believes Nearly Nude will do well in the Middle East, she’s aware that she’ll need to tread carefully with the social restrictions on women’s dress code when she tackles the market this year. Our box-out below highlights some fashion faux pas in certain overseas markets.

Looking ahead, Sutton believes Australian fashion will continue to consolidate its position around the world. With the tactical advantage of having Australian merino and BMP Cotton, Australian designers will continue to work with these natural fibres, particularly as they respond to global concern for the environment. “With the partnership of the Australian brands working with the Australian natural fibre industry, there is really a great opportunity to expand and grow around the world, and I expect to see some specific sector development occurring as a team.”

Gualtieri predicts the Australian fashion industry will continue to grow with companies going offshore as their product quantities increase or become more cost-driven. “Smaller, creative niche market specialists will continue to produce locally in order to control the quality and smaller quantities. As the older and more established labels become larger and move some of their manufacturing offshore, there will always be new, emerging talent coming through, ready to start the cycle of growth and development.”