Milliners who rely on the spring racing season for a yearly income boost fought a fresh round of challenges this year.
Last year, the threat of equine flu and the global economic crisis seriously affected sales. This year, it is tighter corporate entertainment budgets and competition from cheap, factory-produced hats that have proved difficult.
Milliner Melissa Jackson said in the past her clientele of professional women would be invited to attend a number of corporate race day celebrations and purchase a new hat for each event. This season, they had received fewer invitations or were opting to attend low-key private functions that did not require millinery.
Jackson said some clients requested new trims for existing hats rather than new pieces. Other people were seeking bespoke designs for the equivalent price of cheaper, mass produced items.
“I have to advise them to go to a department store,” she said. “Men can now get trilbys made in China for $75 or $100. Your everyday guy will ring up and enquire about getting one made, but then they hear the price [and decline].”
Her flagship store in Melbourne’s Fitzroy trades as Melissa Jackson Salon and offers headwear priced between $450 and $550.
Fellow milliner Paris Kyne said that after years of challenges to the industry, he had been concerned about sales this season. To prepare he adjusted his product offer, lowering the retail price cap of his hats to $750 rather than the usual $1000.
“Miss Client is concerned about her budget and watching her pennies,” he said. “I am still seeing loads of new frocks, though most women this year are telling me they bought it on sale.”
Kyne said sales were similar to last year, but that “last year was not a good year”. He agreed with Jackson that cheap imports were a growing threat to local milliners.
“To me a cheap alternative is not an alternative at all. Most people have no idea of what hand-made is, or how it is achieved, so they think I am an expensive option.”
Despite the challenges, milliner Kim Fletcher said she had experienced a busy season, but found people were choosing to pay with credit cards rather than cash. She witnessed an increase in women wearing shoes and bags they already owned, rather than purchasing new.
Julie Fleming, a milliner celebrating 20 years in business, noticed an emerging trend toward women sourcing vintage pieces from designer labels such as Yves Saint Laurent and Chloe and doing them up for race day.