High Calibre clothing

After years of steady expansion, Melbourne menswear label Calibre is poised for the next phase of its evolution, as Belinda Smart reports.
Writer and renowned dandy Oscar Wilde famously quipped that ?fashion is what one wears oneself. What is unfashionable is what other people wear.?
For reasons geographical and historical, Wilde never shopped at Melbourne menswear retailer Calibre, but had he done so, he would have eaten his words, for since its establishment in 1989 at the hands of retailer Gary Zecevic, Calibre has been spreading the great man?s brand of supreme fashion confidence to Australian males of every stripe.
The label -- which targets ?20 to 50 year old professionals who are fashion forward and appreciate quality garments? -- is the result of 16 years of ongoing product development that blends contemporary Aussie ?cool? with a European flair for cut and tailoring.
The brand is best known for suiting but also offers shirting and casualwear as well as own brand shoes and a mix of own brand and luxury brand accessories.
The design team develops each range according to a ?whole wardrobe? philosophy that lends itself easily to multiple sales, as designer Paul Talarico explains.
?We spend a lot of time looking at the colour palette and making sure that it can be easily worn throughout the range. We make sure that shirts tie back with suits and that pants tie back with knitwear so that it all blends and flows together,? he says.
?Our suits patterns are tailored locally and we are fortunate to have access to the knowledge and talent of a patternmaker and tailor who has been in the business for many years. His classic methods have further enhanced the fit and appearance of something that was good to begin with but is now great.?
General manager Freddie Ryan, who joined the company in the early nineties, says Calibre?s ?European? look was a rarity when the company was first established and continues to set it apart today; although -- with the advent of cheaper European imports and affordable high-fashion retail labels including Saba menswear and AG -- competition is stiffer these days.
?There?s also a lot more cost involved in running a business, including GST and work cover. It all makes running a business where you?re designing and retailing on a small scale very difficult.?
Yet having started as ?one shop working from a garage out the back,? Calibre continues to hold its own in a highly competitive retail environment, he claims.
The company -- which is vertically integrated and covers design, manufacture, retail and wholesale ? is coming to the end of a five-year expansion period.
This has seen additional stores opening yearly, resulting in five Melbourne outlets and four in Sydney, while this month (November) will see the opening of a tenth outlet at iconic Melbourne shopping centre Chadstone.
Ryan -- a strong believer in the maxim that over-rapid expansion is worse than no expansion at all ? says the Chadstone site was chosen to open the brand to a fresh demographic, while staying true to its values.
?Some companies open new stores in order to outgrow their problems, but we?ve been very careful in controlling our expansion. Our priority is to look after the brand and treat it nicely. Otherwise, the tail can end up wagging the dog.?
The expansion has also seen staff allocation and IT systems streamlined. Roles are more clearly defined, meaning that the days of designer meetings that were ?a bit like a rugby scrum? are a thing of the past, he says.
Despite the prevailing culture of cheap imports and fast fashion, Calibre prides itself on making around 70 per cent of its product onshore, while more specialised product ? including knitwear manufactured in Hong Kong -- is made offshore.
Calibre has worked closely with around seven Melbourne factories for a number of years and has ?a very good relationship with them,? Ryan says.
This accounts for the company?s ability to present a quality product while keeping costs down, meaning the ?European? cachet need not involve re-mortgaging a bachelor pad; the essential two-button suit ? a Calibre staple ? costs $599 for a jacket and $279 for pants, while a top of the range sports coat sells for around $689.
?Yes we make onshore but we look at the product first, decide what the right price is and work backwards from there. We?re very focussed on what the market needs. We don?t design a $5000 suit and say: ?This is what the customer must pay because we?re artists?. It doesn?t work like that,? says Ryan.
With updated IT systems for stock tracking, merchandising and range planning now also installed, the company is set to take on the future, although the five-year plan is still very much in development.
?We might consider expanding our retail presence to other states or forging closer partnerships with department stores. We used to export to the US and Asia but we largely withdrew from that in order to build up the company here, however we might well consider exporting again,? says Ryan.
And what of the current state of Australian menswear? Would the eminently stylish Oscar Wilde approve?
As far as Ryan is concerned it?s still a work in process, but the sector is more inspiring than it once was.
?It used to be terrible. Australian men are much more open to fashion now which is fantastic for us. We used to feel like we were hitting our heads against a brick wall. We?d think: ?This is great but can we sell it?? Now its the customers who are pushing us.?