From deadlines and ‘crazy’ freelancing to vital pre-production notes and being taken seriously, there are plenty of talented designers spilling out across Australia. But what are the real bumps in the road on the path to success? Melbourne-based designer Ivan Budah, whose début menswear collection Jesen was released for autumn/winter (A/W) 2010, says selling a range and dealing with production is an ongoing challenge.
Budah, who designs, sells, and distributes his label and liaises with factories for sampling and production, says the lack of opportunity at the time pushed him into launching his own business.
He began his journey with a business plan, followed by perfecting designs and then hunting for a suitable offshore factory.
Budah explains how he works with a few different factories in Indonesia that allow him to produce styles with low minimums and says this was an ‘integral component’ to getting Jesen off the ground.
Despite it sounding straight forward, after flying out to a factory to sample his first range independently, he did, and still can, experience problems along the way.
“Selling a range and dealing with production is never fun and these two elements can really make or break your season,” Budah begins. “Most of the problems I face tend to revolve around production where things are out of my control. Going into production I tend to face problems like running out of a particular fabric or dyeing taking far too long due to weather restrictions – this tends to push back your delivery date and potentially annoy your accounts.”
He says he has also come to realise the advantages of dealing with production face-to-face.
“Vital pre-production notes can get a little misconstrued at times, so before actually going into production I try to be as clear as possible and repeat my notes over email if I cannot get over to the factory,” he explains.
The designers behind separate emerging labels Kahlo, Red and Ruby and Kelsey Genna, are solely responsible for their growing businesses, take on a plethora of roles, and say they ‘want’ to be involved with all aspects of the product – not just the designing.
The common challenges faced by some of these creative minds behind the threads include time pressures, deadlines and cash flow.
The Sydney-based pair behind Kahlo, Fay Ogunbadejo, aged 32, and Rachelle Sinclair, aged 26, launched their debut contemporary womenswear collection a year ago.
Acting as owners, designers and production managers, the duo say they have to learn all they can in these areas as the business is still in its early stages.
“Initially with our debut collection our challenges were meeting deadlines – we were still in the process of learning how things were to be done and this was difficult with the added pressure of being on deadline,” Sinclair explains.
“Now that we are handling our time more effectively, our biggest challenge is ensuring the financial growth and success of the company.”
Ogunbadejo says other challenges include expanding nationally and internationally and being able to supersede each collection with a new one.
By keeping the March 2011 debut collection small, this allowed them to perfect the production process and focus on designing and business management. And they have since enlisted help from a sales and PR agent.
Another emerging designer who decided to keep her first range small is Kelsey Genna, whose self-titled range is only available exclusively on her own website.
The New Zealand-based 20-year-old began designing and hand making dresses while still studying full-time and says her main challenges are having enough time and trying to break the market in her homeland.
Last year was her first full year of trading following the release of a small collection in February.
She says that by starting small this allowed her to keep her hand in every part of the process – from pattern making to website deign and marketing.
“My biggest challenge was never having enough time, as doing the entire process yourself takes a lot of time and effort – particularly when it came to producing garments,” Genna explains.
She says the internet plays an important role in starting her business as most of her customers are from overseas – something she wants to address in 2012.
“Something I would like to focus on is building my New Zealand clientele, as although I am based in New Zealand the majority of my sales are from international shoppers.”
Having launched in 2011, Australian designer and another one woman show, Edwina Lye, runs baby and toddler fashionwear label Red and Ruby.
After spending 15 years in the fashion industry, Lye says she always intended to give herself a ‘good long-term flogging’ in the sector before starting her own venture, to create a good network of contacts.
“Start up capital is hard to come by in fashion, so unless you come from family money it’s usually a week to week nightmare as it expands to start with – I freelance like a crazy person to fund my business expansion.”
Although launching online and beginning to secure more and more stockists, emerging designers can be ‘emerging’ for years.
Despite opening their first store in Melbourne in 2009, men and womenswear brand Kings of Carnaby was ‘not really put on the map’ until they presented a collection at Melbourne Spring Fashion Week last year, say the brand’s founders Nick Tologlou and Michael Lamacchia.
With no real expectation the pair, who were both keen art students, did a crash course in pattern making and sewing before quitting their jobs to focus on the label.
“Firstly we went through the accounts stage, contacting solicitors, setting up bank accounts – we didn’t know anything about most of these areas,” Tologlou begins. “Having a slower paced business allowed us to test the water, so to speak, and decide where we wanted our label to go.”
They sell online and now have 24 stockists worldwide – but they have had hiccups along the way.
“When we were starting to find stores to stock our label to widen our reach, we found that people weren’t taking us seriously and thought we were just garage designers trying to make a quick buck,” Tologlou says.
“Buyers would ask where else we were stocked and when we responded that they would be our first store, we were quite often shown the door.”
