Lipstick on a gorilla?
Sir George Cox is a very funny man. If he hadn't been destined to become – among other things - an aerospace engineer and the chair of the UK's Design council - he could well have got a gig in stand-up.
In his opening remarks at the L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival (LMFF) Business Seminar on March 6 Sir George quipped how a reversal of the natural order had resulted in him being the token man in a dark suit amid a sea of female fashionistas.
But this wasn't the only way Sir George went against the grain. Amid speakers' references to experiential fashion retail and luxury brands, he barely mentioned the words "fashion", "clothing" or "apparel", but talked about the importance of creativity and innovation in design and commerce. Nevertheless, his speech was so inspiring that the girl sitting next to me – a senior employee at a local Melbourne fashion house – could barely stop herself from rushing back to work there and then to start brainstorming how to restructure her business.
One nugget from Sir George's talk summed up the challenge facing creative (and therefore fashion) businesses today. "It's important not to put lipstick on the gorilla". In other there's no point decorating an essentially decrepit operation with a few 'creative' buzzwords. Creative businesses are creative through and through.
At a time when companies and industry as a whole need a radical re-think, Sir George's very presence at the LMFF seminar was inspired. After all, anyone who can tell British politicians that creativity matters - a feat of daft bravery like that other George pitting his wits against a disgruntled dragon – clearly deserves a hearing. Cox's daring is now embodied in the 2005 Cox Review of Creativity in Business, a deceptively slender tome that has nonetheless sent ripples throughout the British political, design and business community. How times have changed.
And now equally hopeful things seem to be happening on these shores. On page 1 of this issue Ragtrader looks at how a new Government with a new agenda is gearing up for a top to toe review of the TCF industry. Spearheaded by Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, the review follows coverage last issue of the Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia (TFIA)'s discussion paper 'A Vision for Australian Apparel' (AVAA).
Long gone are the 'old school' days of ripping off European designs to spruik them to a fashion starved market. Innovation is the word of the moment, and while industry may have to wait until August 31 - when the TCF Review's final report is published - to read the fine print of what this means, change is clearly afoot.
On the subject of inspiration, innovation and change I'm now going to do a little spruiking for our own Ragtrader website. Launched on October 5, the website dragged our esteemed title into the 21st century, and ever since has been feeding news hungry readers with updates on the latest developments - from hard-hitting industry stories to new label launches or coverage of current environmental and economic challenges looming over us all. Meanwhile, twice weekly newsletters summarising the week's top stories are also plopping into readers' inboxes.
All this talk of sweeping, radical shake-ups can be overwhelming, so I really recommend starting with something easy and signing up to Ragtrader's steady stream of ideas, news and analysis. You don't even have to leave your desk. To set up your first access to the site, go to ragtrader.com.au, click the 'register' button and follow the prompts. What could be simpler? And not a pouting gorilla in sight.
By Tracey McEldowney