Niche is the new black

Austrade chief economist Tim Harcourt ignores the hype to reveal the real essence of Australian Fashion Week.

We've just got over another Rosemount Australia Fashion Week (RAFW) with a big splash, big hype, big hair, big dollars and (of course) tiny outfits. In a place like Sydney, fashion week is a big deal as it gets to showcase Australian design.

But what does fashion week do? Basically, it brings together buyers and sellers. Just like in the musical 'Fiddler on the roof', it's really a match making event for the fashionistas. Many of the biggest names in Australian fashion got their start at Fashion week and some of the biggest names today like Jayson Brunsdon, Akira and Wayne Cooper were back for the 2008 fashion week.

But one thing about fashion week is that it is a very good avenue for the up and coming designers to get a chance to strut their stuff (or rather have it strutted for them) on the catwalk. Fashion week is a bit like the AFL or NRL draft in the sporting world - it's a chance for rookies to show that they have got what it takes.

So which designers were hot this year? Who were the Gen X or Gen Y designers trying to join Australia's fashion hall of fame? Industry insiders were excited about Zanerobe, silence is golden, Jacqui Alexander, Kirrily Johnston, Ruth Tarvydas and Material Boy. According to Austrade's fashion industry guru, Lucy Coward, the interest this year in the new designers has been mind-blowing: "Every year we get a new bunch of up and comers who are hungry for success. They combine great creative and technical skills in design with savvy entrepreneurial flair. And they don't ask for much - just an introduction to a buyer so they can do their thing."

Of course, fashion week is a major international event and Kingsford-Smith airport was chock a block full of international buyers coming to check out what the new Aussie designers had to offer. Fortunately, Australia fashion experiences the best of both worlds with strong success in the traditional markets of London, Europe and the US but we are also doing well in the emerging economies too in Asia and the Middle East. According to Coward, "Indonesia is becoming a great destination for us and 90 per cent of the buyers who come to fashion week from Jakarta will be making a purchase."

Coward's colleague, Vivienne Lim, who has experience in the Singapore market agrees that Indonesia is becoming important but also looks further north to China. "China is the next Indonesia as far as Australian design is concerned and we have also made successful inroads into the mature markets of Singapore and Hong Kong and high income markets like Dubai in the United Arab Emirates." So for Australian fashion, do we go to Asia or Europe? The answer is both plus Dubai.

Australian fashion exporters used to be worried about the 'Tyranny of Distance' but now the 'Power of Proximity' is taking hold. As Vivien Lim says: "We've in a similar time zone to many of the Asian markets and the seasons work for us too, and fashions move so quickly there's a low risk of imitation." So with rising disposable incomes in Asia and the emerging economies and increasing trade and investment ties with Australia, Australian designers might have to alter their catch cry of 'London, Paris, Milan' to and 'London, Paris, Milan, Jakarta and maybe Shanghai' in the near future.

One person who was very impressed by the young Australian designers on display at fashion week was Professor Roy Green, the chair of the Federal Government inquiry into the textile, clothing and footwear industries. "Our young designers are really going places on the international stage. They are the shock troops of Australian innovation," he said.

According to Green, Australia's success will depend on exploiting our competitive advantage in "textile technical training, design and research and development. We can assemble off shore as well as here but is it important that we keep the creative skills and design and our brands here in Australia." Green said he believed our future lies in niche exports and the development of a strong creative and technical design culture in the industry in Australia.

Of course, there has been some success in this strategy as many Australian fashion brands that assemble overseas, still have their brands in Australia and create value and employment here as a result. Many Australian fashion labels earn more off-shore income that other major Australian businesses (for example, surf wear icon Billabong is now Westpac Bank in terms of off shore revenue earned.) So it is important to support fashion week as the next Collette Dinnigan or Morrissey or even the next Billabong may be discovered. And for a small country like Australia, with strong ties to the emerging economies in Asia and the old world as well, it seems that niche is the new black.

By Tim Harcourt