ragtrader news

Designer drug plot thickens

PERTH: A swimwear designer caught up in a drug scandal may potentially lose her stake in the label. Kooey swimwear founder Joanne Pellew and her husband Ramli Hajinoor were found guilty of conspiring with family members to sell or supply cannabis to customers from a house in Broome.

Police alleged Pellew was the main drug player in the ring using a leased house in the town as her distribution point. It was from this location that Hajinoor and his brother in law sold the drugs, state prosecutor Chris Williams told the court.

He said in 2006 police had found almost a kilo of cannabis hidden inside a linen cupboard in Pellew’s mother’s home and had carried out extensive surveillance, intercepting thousands of calls and text messages between the four and Pellew’s alleged Perth supplier, Filip Divich.

Williams said Pellew and Divich had discussed money and that Pellew had deposited $8400 into his bank account before a meeting witnessed by police.

But defence counsel David Moen argued the intercepts related to legitimate business activities and told jurors another member of the designer’s family had admitted to owning the drugs found by police two years ago.

He said police had no way of proving Pellew and her husband had any knowledge of drug dealing operations.

According to News Limited reports the couple now face the prospect of their assets being confiscated under Western Australia's proceeds-of-crime legislation.

Police froze all of Pellew's assets and those of her husband ahead of their district court trial that ended last Thursday.

A spokeswoman for DPP told the newspaper that Pellew and Hajinoor would face confiscation proceedings if the judge declared them as drug traffickers at a sentencing next month.

Pellew officially launched her swimwear line at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week in 2007 after several years trading in small market stalls and on Ebay.

Driza-Bone sold and relocating

NATIONAL: Iconic Australian apparel brand Driza-Bone has been bought by a group of private investors. The as yet unnamed group hail from Melbourne and have installed Country Road founder Steve Bennett as creative director of the brand.

As a result of the new ownership structure the company's head office and key administration, finance, warehousing and distribution will be relocated to Melbourne. It is understood all manufacturing operations will remain at Driza-Bone's current site in Eagleby, Queensland.

For more on this story see the November 14 issue of Ragtrader.

TCF report delayed

NATIONAL: The federal government's response to Professor Roy Green's report on the textiles, clothing and footwear industry has been put on the back burner until at least next year. In Senate hearings yesterday Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Minister Kim Carr said government responses to both Green's and a seperate innovation report would not be released before Christmas as previously stated.

According to Fairfax media reports, Senator Carr sought to portray the changes as miner. While he admitted he had not put out a press release about the new timing, Carr said he had made it clear on a "number of occasions" and it was no secret.

"Frankly, given the workload we are trying to manage, my expectation is we will release [the government's response] early next year."

Oroton turns a confident 70

SYDNEY: Oroton Group is celebrating its 70th year and record results for FY08. The luxury brand, which began life as a fabric importer in 1938, has reported that sales revenue increased by 11 per cent to $121 million over the year. Meanwhile net profit after tax was a record $16.7 million - a 70 per cent improvement on the previous year.

In a statement released to the Australian Stock Exchange on October 24, Oroton executive chairman Ross Lane described the results as "a direct result of the tough strategic decisions made two years ago," referring to the group's divestment of its other brands to concentrate solely on the Oroton and Polo Ralph Lauren businesses.

Oroton CEO and managing director Sally Macdonald's statement confirmed the strengthof the brands, with Oroton posting a 20 per cent increase and Polo posting a 17 per cent increase in like for like sales.

Highlights of the year included re-location to new offices in Waterloo and a 'face-lift' program including upgraded visual merchandising and the launch of a new catalogue for the Oroton brand. The group also opened two new Oroton stores in Newcastle and Adelaide. Meanwhile the Polo Ralph Lauren CBD stores in Collins Street Melbourne and QVB in Sydney also received upgrades.

Looking ahead, Macdonald confirmed that attracting and retaining staff was key to the group's success.

"In this past year we introduced a paid 12-week maternity scheme and stepped up our training and mentoring programs. People development and retention will remain a constant focus in coming years."

All change for NRA awards

GOLD COAST: The organisers of long-running fashion show the NRA Fashion Design Awards have introduced a number of changes to the festival's 2009 instalment. The revamped awards, taking place from March 30 to April 8, will showcase emerging talent, with student judging and model searches being featured for the first time.

Other highlights include a showcase of garments from Australia's top 20 fashion retailers and an initiative giving students the chance to present their collections in front of key industry buyers and designers.

NRA events and marketing director Donna Caley said organisers had resisted the temptation to change the event "simply for change's sake" but recognised the need to evolve its product.

"Our aim is to make fashion increasingly accessible and yet aspirational. We will showcase retail brands available to the general public as well as unveil newly discovered talent for the first time on the catwalk."

Other categories in the awards include best ready-to-wear designs across lifestyle, childrenswear, swim/surf and menswear as well as fashions on the field, bridal and couture.

True Alliance hones marketing

SYDNEY: Fashion and sportswear distributor True Alliance has consolidated its public relations activities to gain greater control over future marketing and branding projects. The Alexandria-headquartered company - whose brands include Ben Sherman, Lacoste, Nautica, Reebok, Speedo, The North Face, Teva, Rockport, Simple, Ugg and intimate apparel labels Chantelle and Passionata - is to bring all its public relations activities in-house.

The move is part of an overhaul that will also see all True Alliance fashion collections housed at a new Darlinghurst office from November 1, followed by its sports collections, which will be installed on November 18.

It is understood True Alliance will also debut a new public relations showroom in Darlinghurst in January 2009.

Specialty results creditable

SYDNEY: Speciality Fashion Group (SFG) has delivered a solid result in the year to June 2008 despite the climate of global market uncertainty. SFG CEO Gary Perlstein has confirmed that the previous year's pledge to improve gross margin, invest in infrastructure and commence a business improvement program - dubbed "Project Revitalise" - had been delivered upon.

Announcing the result in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange on October 27, Perlstein said gross margins had risen by 350 basis points to 56.4 per cent, reflecting the successful repositioning of the group's brands under the first phase of Project Revitalise. Direct sourcing from Asian countries and improved inventory management also contributed to the increase, he said.

The group also opened 61 new stores and closed 32 underperforming stores - bringing the total number of stores across its brands - which include Millers, Crossroads, Autograph, Katies, Queenspark and City Chic - to 813.

Revenue for the year rose 2.8 per cent to $538 million, although sales were impacted in the second half of the year by a slowdown in consumer spending. Net profit after tax for the 2008 year of $23 million was down by eight per cent from $25 million a year earlier, due to increased non cash depreciation charges and increased funding costs related to Project Revitalise.

While the completion of phase one of Project Revitalise had respositioned the group's brands in line with its growth strategy, phase two would include: the revitalisation of stores and continued investment in brands through enhanced capital expenditure; major infrastructure spending on IT systems to enahnce inventory management and marketing; ongoing focus on direct sourcing from Asia and strategic investment in personnel.

WA: Love (plus one) in the city

PERTH: Womenswear retailer Love in Tokyo is distributing its affection by electing to open a second store. The Fremantle-headquartered company, founded by Western Australian designer Sheree Dornan, has secured a site in Perth's King Street to expand the business. The store, set to open in the next few days, will be situated between popular haunts Zekka and Dilletante.

Dornan, who has been designing and selling textile print designs for the Australian and US markets full time since 2000, said she had looked for some time to find the right site.

"This section of King Street has a feeling of Melbourne or Europe. We looked at many locations for the second store and this location has so much to offer as the street develops."

Labels carried by the two stores include Western Australian labels Ashe, Portia, Yates Global and eastern Australian labels Jiva, Helix, Yoshi Jones, High Tea with Mrs Woo and Queen.

Billabong surfs rough waters

NATIONAL: Surfwear giant Billabong has admitted deteriorating economic conditions have already seen a decline in industry orders.

Billabong chief executive Derek O'Neill told the company's annual general meeting that since it released its fiscal 2008 results and forward guidance eight weeks ago, Billabong sales were slightly below expectations.

He said while the company still anticipated double digit sales growth for fiscal 2009, consumers had "retreated" in the latter part of September and early October as they came to grips with the new economic landscape.

"Current conditions are leading to some apprehension from retailers in the placement of initial orders. That said, forward order books in the US and Europe remain good, although there is some weakness in Australia."

O'Neill said retailers were also placing greater emphasis on repeat orders rather than initial ordering.

On a positive note, the company has upgraded its earnings guidance as it expects export operations to profit from the falling Australian dollar.

Offshore sales represent 75 per cent of Billabong's overall business.

"There has been a dramatic fall in the value of the Australian dollar, in particular against the US dollar and Euro," O'Neill said. "After so many years of watching the company's reported profits eroded by an appreciating Australian dollar, there is now the prospect of strong reported gains for a depreciating Australian dollar."

The company expects earnings per share growth of 12 to 16 per cent for the 2009 financial year.

Stylesmith looks set to do Well

MELBOURNE: Shirting doyenne Lella Smith has enhanced her brand penetration with the launch of a self-named boutique at a new shopping precinct - dubbed The Well - in the suburb of Camberwell. A spokesperson for the brand described the outlet as "noticeably funkier and more playful in its design" than Smith's more pared back boutique at Melbourne's GPO shopping hub, adding the new store would kick off with the latest Lella Smith range.

"Inspired by traditional European shirt-making techniques; it merges beautiful fabrics - from Liberty of London and Italy’s Cotonificio Albini - to create distinctive shirt collections. With an emphasis on comfort and fit, Lella Smith shirts are available in three core styles, each offering varying cuts to suit different figures, and a complementary range of fashion cuts each season."

To complement the shirting collection, Smith would also offer limited runs of designs in knitwear, coats and feature pieces in luxurious European wools, silks and cottons.

The store would also stock a range of designer labels including Fleur Wood, Ginger & Smart, Third Millennium, Thurley, Mad Cortes, Cybèle, Day Birger et Mikkelsen, Nevenka, Life with Bird, Hudson, J & Company, Habitual, Superfine, Sambag, Bensimon and Dico Copenhagen.