With a headcount of less than 10,000 and a reputation as having some of the most fertile wine valleys in Australia, Mudgee isn’t exactly a fashion capital.
But for Danny Avidan, the at times beleaguered chief executive of The Discovery Group, it represents an important part of the fashion empire he first founded in 1983. He has exempted local womenswear boutique Cherry Red from a nationwide restructure of the company’s wholesale operations, the former having stocked its designer brands Charlie Brown and Howard Showers for as long as Avidan can remember.
“We’re changing our wholesale business where we sell to key advocate accounts that do the brand properly and thoroughly,” Avidan says. “But then again, the business is about more than dollars and cents, where you’ve got an account like Cherry Red in Mudgee who’ve been buying from me since I’ve been in business. I’m never not going to support Cherry but nor do I expect them to turn into a Charlie Brown shop because in Mudgee, that’s not the business model that would work.”
There are other brands in The Discovery Group stable – Howard Showers, Lili – but Charlie Brown is the firm flagship. It has 24 concessions in Myer and 11 freestanding stores across the country, the most recent of which opened in Perth earlier this year. Avidan says his decision to rationalise its network of 300 national wholesale accounts will help it focus on ‘key’ trading partners.
It could also have something to do with the launch of a new e-commerce platform for the designer label. Scheduled to go live in July, the initiative is being headed up by freshly appointed marketing manager Kirrily Sams, formerly of LVMH Australia. Sams and Avidan are aiming to upload only ‘core’ items to the online store per month.
The brand currently produces a 60-piece collection monthly, with anywhere between between 500 to 600 units for a basic style to 100 units for an exclusive eveningwear dress. Avidan says his supply base is now flexible enough to meet new demand from the site.
“We produce about half of what we do in Australia and half of what we do offshore. Sometimes this figure varies 70/30 either way depending on what we’re doing. It does vary season to season and we’re very flexible. There’s been savings with the Australian dollar but there’s been huge price increases in Asia, so certain things that were worthwhile doing over there are now more worthwhile doing locally and vice versa.”
And this demand won’t just be contained to e-commerce either. This month, the brand will open its first concession businesses in New Zealand, one through Kilcardie & Stains in Wellington and the other through Smith & Caughey in Auckland. It currently has around a dozen wholesale accounts in the country, which are coordinated by an external fashion agency based in Melbourne.
“We are also growing the concession business for Howard Showers,” Avidan says of the sister label, which has around 180 national wholesale accounts. “We have six currently through Myer and we’ll be up to 10 by the end of this season. We developed a casual, weekend element to the range last season and it’s been very successful so we’ve also extended that for winter.”
Prices range from $299 to $399 for suiting, $179 to $299 for dresses and $399 for evening gowns, with around 25 new styles produced per month. Avidan says the decision to expand into casualwear was prompted by growing demand from rural clients, with separates now ranging from $100 to $200.
But times haven’t always been this rosy for Avidan and The Discovery Group. In 2001, the company entered into voluntary administration owing creditors $9 million. While it narrowly missed the clutches of liquidation, Avidan’s personal life has since been no stranger to column inches in the tabloid press. Professionally, however, he is focused.
In terms of economies of scale, there is a side business which eclipses The Discovery Group by millions of units.
Over two years ago Avidan teamed up with a group of business partners to acquire Hollywood Fashion Tape, a global phenomenon which produces a range of fashion garment accessories.
He is now the chairman of the Asia Pacific business; the brand boasts 600 per cent growth since its acquisition. In addition to Myer, David Jones, Sportsgirl, Portmans, Dotti, Equip and countless pharmacies and retailers, the products are also available in countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. Avidan is biding his time before launching into the Chinese and Indian markets, instead focusing on extending the number of products currently available across its shapewear and ‘Hollywood Feet’ line.
As for those rumours he’s set to also purchase designer brands Wayne Cooper and Akira Isogawa?
“I am working on something but the details are still pending,” Avidan responds cautiously. “I will be in a position to be totally transparent about it in a month’s time.”