Getting down to business

Australia's design institutions are now teaching students how to marry creativity with solid business sense, as Samantha Docherty reports.

Tina Guglielmino understands the power of first impressions – and, more importantly how to break them.
The RMIT programs manager of fashion says when her students first commence a TCF course, they are not fully aware that careers in the industry extend beyond design. After a good dose of Business 101, Guglielmino adds this soon changes.   

"We have developed programs that cover a wide range of industry sectors. Not only do we train the students to commence their own small business and prepare business plans [with] our WIL (Work Integrated Learning) programs, we approach industry partners and ask them to set a brief for students and then work with students from concept to in-store delivery. [Additionally] our diploma of TCF Product Development and Marketing stream has worked with companies such as Country Road, Calibre and Sportsgirl."

Queensland of University of Technology's head of fashion Professor Suzi Vaughan is equally practical. After the first year of study - spent encouraging her students to be open, experimental and take risks with their designs - Vaughan then introduces them to the real world of retailing.

"There is a real need for the students to be conscious of what they’re getting into. One subject - Fashion, Law and the Real World - introduces students to sale of goods contracts, employment contracts, copyright and designer protection. We look at environmental and ethical issues around fashion and another subject undertaken by students - Workplace Learning, looks at different levels of business and how well the companies are managed. In [their final] year the students develop business plans and look at their positioning for the industry."

Intrigued by Vaughan’s approach to running the course from both a creative and business perspective, David Jones’ general manager of womenswear David Bush became involved with the university three years ago. Vaughan says she approached him to asses the design students in a second year retail project.

Giving feedback on the quality, scale and complexity of the designs presented to him, Bush says through the David Jones project the students delve into the reality of life as a designer.

"In my experience I’ve found that new businesses don’t consider all of the costs involved in doing business. Forget what the designer or buyer thinks. If the customer thinks it’s too expensive we all lose. Suzi has got her students thinking of these things in parallel with the design process which is great. Over the course of my involvement with QUT I’ve seen graduates with a good sense of commercial reality designing fashion for real customers. It’s not making the designers business experts, but it enables them to think about this during the process as opposed to the end. It’s a fine line. We don’t want [students] to lose their creativity, but unless you understand the customer - what they want, the look and function of a garment - you won’t be successful."

With his jeans amassing a cult following in Brisbane and celebs including Powderfinger's Bernard Fanning visiting his shop ‘Check’ in Fortitude Valley, Queensland University of Technology (QUT) graduate John Prikryl says most graduates/students don’t realise how important the retail side of running your own gig can be.

"Ninety per cent of the emphasis is placed on developing creative talent [as] most don’t want to know about the boring business side of the industry. But you need to get all parts of the engine running smoothly. That means the creative product, the business/finance part of it and the retail side. This isn’t explained at university, but in saying that, I don’t think the courses are geared to people starting their own label."

Vaughan says because most graduates don't have the capital to launch their own business, QUT encourages them to gain some practical industry experience first. She admits this can be tough when the press and media paint a glossy picture of young, independent designers.

"They imagine they will have more control over their own label, but they will learn different things if they [first] work with an established company. They may learn more across the whole gamut themselves, but it will be the hard way."

Admitting that starting a new label was a steep learning curve, Prikryl confesses it has been as steep as he imagines it gets.

"You learn new things everyday that no-one told you about - shipping, invoicing, payments, tax, financials, cash flow, etc. I actually quite enjoy the business side of the brand. But it does make it hard to then go and put on your creative hat and get down to developing new and exciting product and come up with fresh designs after you’ve immersed yourself in invoices."

General manager of the Australian Fashion Council Zoe Edquist says a creative business of any sort is only sustainable if it’s conducted in a professional and businesslike manner.
"The fashion industry is extremely competitive and it makes a big difference if a business operator understands how to manage growth and take advantage of opportunities as they arise."

UTS course director of fashion and textiles Alison Gwilt says while it’s wrong to expect graduates to succeed without some business know how, it’s also unwise for the, to consider running a business ‘all by themselves’.

"From our experience it seems that as a forth student you really appreciate business studies as an enhancement to the role of a designer. It’s at this point in the course that we really focus on developing business plans, grant applications, etc that can enable a small business to grow. We have been supported by both the NSW Business Chamber (NSWBC) and Lancôme Australia with prizes and awards that inspire new business initiatives."

"These company contributions are enormously significant to the degree education. The winners of the NSWBC award (worth $10,000 a year) make full use of the advice, workshops and business support made available to them by NSWBC. Bec’n’Bridge were our first winners of the award (then named the ABL award) and now come back to UTS to advise current students. They have been a really good example of graduates collaborating with business and doing well. [Additionally] Donna Sgro, last year’s [joint] winner (alongside Bonnie Rozorio) won numerous awards and prizes whilst at university and since graduating her label is doing well.”

Mindful that design schools are aware of industry expectations and do try to prepare their students for real world business interactions, Sgro is only too aware that principally she’s a designer and wholesaler.

"With the experience I’ve had at university undertaking a design degree I’m sure this type of degree cannot prepare students for the world of retail and I wouldn’t expect that it should. This is not why I chose to study design. I expect a design school to teach design skills. I would enrol in a business school if I expected to learn business skills. Having said that however, to be a successful business person it’s really important to be able to identify your strengths or specific talents and work at developing them so that whatever role you take you can offer something unique. Winning the NSWBC award more than anything gave me the confidence to take the idea for my product and my label beyond the conceptual stage. Receiving industry support and recognition for your ideas and prototypes helps bridge the step beyond university into industry."