MELBOURNE: Australian designers wishing to cast their business net overseas should be focused, business savvy, realistic, and above all good at relationships.
These were the key messages that emerged from yesterday's L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival (LMFF) Designer Forum, where panelists Vogue UK fashion features editor Pippa Holt, Liberty London creative consultant Yasmin Sewell and Australian designer Megan Park, shared their insights with an audience of designers and fashion professionals.
Holt confirmed that while luck played a part in "making it" overseas, a persistent, well thought out approach was also key, adding designers need not over-extend themselves financially to attain results.
"My advice to designers would be to start small. You don't necessarily need a UK based PR – which can be incredibly costly - to get noticed. One of the best approaches is to invest in some overseas travel and take a suitcase full of your designs with you. That's how Sass & Bide got started."
Holt confirmed she rarely read press releases but instead relied on look books to decide what would feature in Vogue, again emphasising that look books need not be expensively produced.
"A look book could just be a really simple collection of images, as long as it clearly showcases the pieces, and ultimately, it's the pieces themselves that count."
Once a designer had forged a relationship with a fashion editor, nurturing a personal rapport paid dividends, she added.
For more on the LMFF Designer Forum pick up a copy of Ragtrader's March 27 print edition.