Hatchery breathes new life to Kiwi fashion
In an initiative which could also have wide ranging benefits for Australian designers, the Dfi Hatchery - an initiative of The Dunedin Fashion Incubator (Dfi) - has been established to provide free production management advice, cut make and trim (CMT) facilities and hands-on technical training for young fashion professionals.
Dfi general manager Mark Lockwood said Dfi - whose current crop of designers includes Otago Knitwear, Elusiv, Aduki and Seriously Twisted - launched the hatchery after industry consultation revealed a dramatic gap in the local skills and facilities base.
Lockwood said the hatchery would give young fashion professionals an understanding of the whole production management process, from ideas creation right through to shop floor.
"They will really get to grips with the nuts and bolts of production, which plays such an important role in the fashion industry."
He said local company Fashion Design & Production Services would provide production management training as well as CMT services.
"CMT represents a significant hurdle for many young designers who find it hard to get small garment runs manufactured by the CMT industry. The hatchery will support them until they can grow their run sizes large enough to be attractive to CMT factories."
As well as servicing the needs of designers, the hatchery would run practical training courses for machinists, pattern makers and cutters, while more specialised courses in technical areas would also be held throughout the year.
"There's a lot of demand in the job market at the more technical end of the industry; for example for specification technicians, who put together the instructions for how a garment should be constructed."
Many fashion graduates would benefit from broader career options than the more perilous path of setting up their own label, he said.
"A lot come out of college to set up their label, crash and burn, then get disillusioned and leave the industry altogether. The hatchery will give young designers, as well as graduates who don't really want to set up their own label, the skills to get them steady employment and learn the ropes of the fashion industry," Lockwood said.
Melbourne-based Australian Fashion Council (AFC) commented that the Australian fashion industry could learn from the efforts of Dfi.
"New Zealand is certainly leading in this area, but it must be noted that they do get strong Government support," said AFC general manager Zoe Edquist.
"We've lobbied the government for something like this for some time. While there is funding out there, it tends to be for more generic training, but the fashion industry requires highly specialised skills."
AFC's longer term plans included a resource centre that would offer similar services to the Dfi Hatchery, Edquist said.
"It will definitely happen; it's just a question of when."