Jayson Brundson
Belinda Crossley
As an Australian designer, how do people respond to your designs across the globe? Do you think there is a particular Australian aesthetic?
There is an interest in Australian fashion because it has a novelty factor. Its individual in that it isn’t American or European so it has a uniqueness to it that customers find intriguing and desirable. The unique quality comes through the physical distance of Australia from the rest of the world not so much through the actual design of the clothes. I don’t believe there is a particular Australian aesthetic. People like to think Australian designers are more sporty and clean in their designs such as Josh Goot and Dion Lee or quite tribal and powerful such as Sass & Bide or Willow. But this simply doesn't apply to me. My design aesthetic is more feminine and romantic. I don’t believe you can be pigeon holed into a “national”look anymore, the world is to small and too fast.
Your coming Spring collection ‘Lady is a Tramp’ was presented as more of an installation than a traditional runway show, what influenced this decision and do you see this to be a continuing trend for fashion shows?
The installation was a less expensive alternative to a runway show and this influenced my decision this year considering the poor state of the retail environment. Its great to maintain a presence at Fashion Week but as a business you need to be realistic with your expenditures on publicity events. But I didn’t want it to be a static presentation. I took the opportunity to stage it and amp up the “cinematic”quality that is my aesthetic. I wanted to create a theatrical environment where the mood was set through installations of individual settings where the models could interact with the audience. I think it is a growing trend to create alternative ways of showing fashion collections. The traditional runway is only one way of presenting a collection .In this digital age its vital to focus on new and arresting imagery.
What is your ethos behind manufacturing in Australia? Is this something that you are going to maintain?
I manufacture my main collection in Australia to maintain quality control over it. Also it allows me to design closer to the sales seasons. If you are producing off shore you need to be working much further in advance and you need the volume. I have that volume in my diffusion line 'Jayson Brunsdon Black Label' exclusive to Myer stores nationally. That's why we manufacture that line off shore. Its difficult to create volume in a collection that retails on an average price of $700 and above in Australia. We don’t have the number of stockists nor the population to sustain it. I take pride in producing the higher priced line in Australia because we keep Australians employed in a specialised industry that is rapidly shrinking.
Your designs often incorporate embellishments such as lace, beading, sequins and embroidery. Do you find these luxurious fabrics difficult to source in Australia and if you are getting pieces custom made; do you find we still have the skill-set here for this kind of work?
All of the luxury elements I incorporate in my work are sourced internationally. The specialty fabrics come from Italy, the beading from India, the high end laces from France and the silks from China. Other fabrics are sourced through local agents but you need to be clever in how you approach design. You can’t be embroidering or embellishing fabrics locally any more unfortunately as it is price prohibitive. Consequently the luxurious elements need to be sourced internationally with a lead time of three months to receive sampling.
There have been a lot of ruffled feathers over the recent amendments to the Fair Work Act and the TCFAI award. As a business manufacturing locally, how has this effected your company?
I feel for any new designers trying to manufacture through locally outsourced businesses. What this law will do is shut down that manufacturing business consequently closing the door on emerging designers who don’t have the volume or resources to manufacture off shore. This only paves the way for the increasing globalisation of fashion. Niche designers simply cannot compete with the likes of mass manufactured chain stores such as Zara or the huge luxury conglomerates such as LVMH.
Belinda Crossley is head designer for Melbourne based fashion label Brkich (pronounced ‘bur-kitch’). The label carries a strong focus on hand screen-printed textiles due to Crossley's background in textile design, with fabric prints considered the keystone to the Brkich collections. All collections are produced locally in order to maintain and supervise ethical practice, quality control and to support Melbourne’s local industry.
