Designs on the future
Many of the fashion world's "old hands" no doubt look back with nostalgia to the heady days of the Fashion Industry Association (FIA), the representative body for Australia's emergent fashion design talent throughout the 1970s, '80s and '90s. In those days the mere presence of the FIA sounded a note of optimism about the future of fashion design (as opposed to manufacturing) as an industry, a note arguably muffled by the association's demise towards the close of the last millennium.
Now, however, with the present era widely perceived as a coming of age for Australian fashion, it seems fitting that a new body, in the form of The Australian Fashion Council (AFC) has emerged to fill the breach.
Founded in January 2006, The AFC largely came into being through the efforts of its founder and general manager Zoe Edquist, whose resumé includes a stint as a commercial lawyer, the launch of her own consultancy business and heading up fashion business network the Lucid Business Network from 2004 to 2005.
"I have many friends within the industry and as a lawyer had a number of fashion industry clients. It became apparent to me very early on that the fashion industry suffered from a severe skills shortage and lack of resources, mainly due to the cash-flow issues that prevent many from getting the professional assistance they need. As a lawyer I would usually work for fashion clients on a pro-bono or reduced rate basis because they would never have been able to afford normal city-law firm rates, which ran into the hundreds of dollars per hour. It occurred to me that there should be an organisation like the AFC to provide legal and other types of advice and assistance in an inexpensive and timely way."
This led to discussions with peak industry body The Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia (TFIA), with the result that the AFC was set up as a division of the TFIA. The AFC's design focus would act as a foil to that of the TFIA - itself the offspring of a 1993 merger between the FIA and the Council of Textiles - which has shifted its sights increasingly onto manufacturing in recent years.
Furthermore its relationship with the TFIA would allow the AFC access to the long-established lobbying and advocacy credentials of the latter, "something that would have taken many years for the AFC to develop if it was established as a stand-alone association," says Edquist.
With the financial and the political clout of the TFIA behind it, the council has undoubtedly put a tick to some significant achievements over the past 12 months. Funded through a combination of seed funding from the TFIA, membership subscriptions and corporate sponsorship - it seems set fair to reach its goal of becoming completely self-funding through membership by the end of 2008, boasting over 60 "professional member" status businesses. These include well recognised labels TL Wood, Vicious Threads, Ksubi, Anna Thomas, Big by Fiona Scanlan, Dangerfield, Alannah Hill and Toni Maticevski. Its membership is also available at student, affiliate and associate and levels.
Providing assistance with sourcing local suppliers and manufacturers, information and advice about local and international fashion events and networking opportunities, the AFC has also established itself as a key hub for information on government grants and assistance programs, industrial relations issues, and legal matters such as intellectual property protection.
In depth resources on these are available at the AFC website, launched early this year and boasting an impressive suite of downloadable pro-forma business contracts developed by AFC and its sponsor law-firm Tresscox, including manufacturing agreements, partnership agreements, standard trading terms and sponsorship agreements for small-to-medium fashion businesses.
Most significantly in terms of raising the profile of Australian fashion design, the AFC is set to launch its own fashion design awards event later this year.
The awards - to replace the FIA's Australian Fashion Awards, which wound down in the 1990's - will be assessed by a panel of judges selected from fashion industry leaders, media, retail, education and the arts. Judges will be from all states, ensuring there is no particular state-bias; and unlike the old FIA Awards, award nominees will not need to be AFC members. Furthermore, the awards will not be a popularity contest in that they will focus on design excellence rather than commercial success, says Edquist.
"Since the Australian Fashion Awards nothing has developed to take their place as the definitive fashion award for the Australian fashion industry. With the growth of the Australian fashion design sector the AFC believes it is time to once again recognise and reward design excellence and to ensure appropriate recognition and appreciation of design leaders."
While the AFC is undoubtedly "Whereas the FIA was largely perceived as a club for large established brands, the AFC is an organisation open to all participants of the Australian fashion design industry, from students and one-person companies to internationally recognised labels."
Clearly the AFC has come a long way in a year, but with the demands of globalisation presenting increasingly sizable challenges to local industries - particularly in the form of a dwindling local skills base - it also has its work cut out.
With this in mind a key objective for the AFC over the coming year is the development of a national skills register, Edquist says.
"This will link local manufacturers and skilled workers with designers wishing to maintain manufacturing on-shore; the AFC is also looking at offering an international sourcing service linking in with its international counterparts such as the Chinese Garment Association and Hong Kong Trade Development Council."
Aside from the practical assistance offered, The AFC also clearly sees itself as a forum for debate with a remit to address some of the knottier issues currently faced by industry. One of these is the ongoing question mark over the industrial relations system affecting Australian TCF manufacturers. With the Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia (TCFUA) claiming homeworkers are exploited by employers and employers complaining that the union is driving their businesses into the ground, the system requires "serious re-examination" in Edquist's view.
"There are certainly many good grounds for a total overhaul of the industrial relations regime that currently governs the use of contractors and outworkers. This system has been unsuccessful in regulating the industry or advancing the interests of workers or businesses."
The AFC has put its money where its mouth is on this issue, actively lobbying government for change and assisting members with advice on their obligations as the clients of contractors and outworkers. Through its relationship with Tresscox it also aims to provide a contract audit service whereby members' arrangements with contractors are inspected and classified as either outworker or contractor arrangements.
Clearly the AFC is not afraid to court controversy, but Edquist is fully cognisant that it will be better able to do so once it has carved a niche for itself.
"As with all industry associations, the major challenge for the AFC is to establish its credibility with its members and the wider industry and to increase membership to ensure continued growth. It is also especially important for the AFC to clearly address the differences between it and other groups and to ensure that the AFC works effectively with other industry stakeholders without duplicating services."
Without doubt, one of the AFC's major ongoing challenges is a perhaps its biggest, most nebulous and open ended one; to change the perception at government level that fashion is "a frivolous industry of little importance to the wider Australian economy", as Edquist puts it.
"At present creative industries, particularly fashion design, are seen as 'niche' with little impact on GDP. This attitude is becoming increasingly outdated, with significant evidence suggesting that the design sector has considerably more potential for growth than traditional manufacturing industries."
Clearly redressing this attitude is a role Edquist relishes.
"The most personally rewarding aspect of the job is being given the opportunity to build something from scratch and to have permission to use my imagination to develop new initiatives to assist our members. It's a very challenging role but one that I enjoy immensely."
If Edquist's commitment is any measure, the AFC intends to work equally hard on behalf of its members to ensure Australia's future as a centre for world-class fashion design.