Oz fashion houses missing a trick?
TCFocus - an annual market survey released for the first time in August by TFIA Business Services, a subsidiary of the Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia (TFIA) - confirmed that in 2003 to 2004 consumers under 25-years-old accounted for only 4 per cent of the total spend on clothing and footwear.
The largest single expenditure age group were 35 to 44-year-olds, accounting for 27 per cent of total spending, closely followed by 45 to 54-year-olds, who accounted for 26 per cent of total spending.
The report also showed that overall household expenditure on clothes and footwear was growing and looked set to continue.
In 2004 to 2005 alone, expenditure rose by 7.5 per cent to reach more than $20 billion, while in the year to March 2006 expenditure reached $15.6 billion, a 3.5 percent rise on the same period last year.
"Growth for the 2005/06 financial year is estimated to be quite strong although probably not at the level seen in 2004-05," confirmed TFIA Business Services economist Lachlan Caddy.
One reason for the growth could be increased consumer affluence, while changes in demand also hinted at demographic shifts such as spikes in the birth rate.
Using figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Household Expenditure Survey, TCFocus highlighted that in the five years from FY 1998/99 to 2003/04 spending on children's and babies' clothes grew by an impressive 33.4 per cent.
Second only to the kidswear category, the adult female of the species continued to dominate the fashion market, with spending growth on womenswear in the five-year period reaching 27.5 per cent.