Shona Joy: “we had millions of dollars worth of orders cancelled”

Fashion designer Shona Joy opens up on an important milestone for her namesake brand - and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. 

This year, we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Shona Joy brand – though not quite in the way we had imagined.

I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect and share our story - both of our recent hardship as well as the silver linings we’ve found while being forced to rapidly adapt to this new environment.

It has been devastating to watch our successful business become so vulnerable, within the blink of an eye.

In the space of just three days, we had millions of dollars’ worth of orders cancelled by some of our biggest retail partners.

Large immediate orders that had been produced specifically for our key retailers were rejected in-transit.

We received cancellation notices for forward orders on our upcoming collections that had been put into work, with materials purchased and production well underway.

We’ve been rattled by the uncertainty of how to move forward in a sensible fashion and to what extent we should be investing in future collections.

Through all this uncertainty, our small Sydney based team has pulled together (from afar) - working night and day with an overwhelming sense of loyalty and support.

While we adapt to this new way of working, we’ve made it a priority to support those who have always supported us – with many of our boutique partners having to close their doors.

We’ve done everything we can to promote our loyal stockists using our own channels, as well as offering discounts to enable their businesses to survive.

I’m so proud of how our team has found incredible strength through the tough times that have been thrust upon us all.

In the fast-paced environment of fashion there’s been hardly any time to look from above with clarity and work out which trajectory we are on.

Having this time has allowed us to pause and reflect upon the rapid growth our brand has been through in the 20 years since I began selling my designs at the Bondi Beach and Paddington Markets.

So, we’re seeing this as an opportunity to re-focus, to look within and decide what our new future will look like.

By slowing down, we can all simplify what we're about and how we can be better - we now have the time to perfect processes and be more thoughtful with our choices as we plan our next chapter.

We’ve always been passionate about working to create a more ethical and sustainable future for our industry so we’re taking this time to find ways to work more sustainably.

As an immediate action, we’ve been able to significantly decrease our use of airfreight, shifting to sea-freight wherever possible.

We’ve also been able to focus on the new product categories we’ve been developing behind the  scenes, based on the feedback of our amazing customers.

Though our supply chain has become incredibly fragile, our first ever Basics Collection is due to launch very soon along with new additions to our Wedding Edit and easy-wear styles as part of our Resort Collection.

Through all the challenges, we’ve been humbled by an undeniable sense of togetherness and unity as  our beautiful community has come together to support each other.

Today, more than ever we’re so grateful – being an Australian brand has never felt so good.