Show me the money

Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (April 28 - May 2) isn't all about the big spectacle. Assia Benmedjdoub investigates some of the economic forces at play.

How thoroughly unfashionable.
Amid one of the most anticipated instalments of Rosemount Australian Fashion Week - and rightly so, according to many media commentators - there loomed the ugly threat of a substantial downturn in discretionary spending.

Two weeks before the spring/summer 2008 collections kicked off, consumer sentiment had plunged to its lowest level in almost 15 years, fuelled by an onslaught of interest rate rises and a global economy about as certain as a model making her first steps down the runway.

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute, which released its consumer sentiment index on April 9, indicated that as much as consumers wanted to whip out $200-plus for a Zimmermann bikini, buying conditions weren't set to change in time for the beach season.

So will the pinch filter down into the wallets of regional buyers at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW)?
"We are really lucky that it has not really affected us much yet but we are anticipating a downturn for next summer," says Dean McCauley, who attended his 9th edition of RAFW this year. 

McCauley, co-owner of Queensland-based fashion boutique Adrenalin, adds that although there will always be demand for "new and exciting" fashion collections, the current retail climate meant buying habits would change.

"It certainly makes you more aware of what is working in-store and forces you to make decisions on what's working," he says. "There are labels that we have held onto because we love them but do not always relate back to sales or strong sell throughs. In this climate, we have to be tougher and cut these labels from our mix because they are not doing us any favours." 

Along with regular Adrenalin labels such as sass & bide, Camilla & Marc, Nicola Finetti and Kirrily Johnson, McCauley walked away with several new additions at RAFW including Bassike and Laurence Pasquier. Ironically, the higher price pointed collections did not deter McCauley this year and he is still under negotiations with Gary Bigeni, Yeojin Bae and Therese Rawsthorne.

"I think that with today's economic climate, you are seeing the average person watching what they spend but the top end of the scale, the wealthy client, has not really been affected yet," he says. "You are always going to get the fashion savvy who want to buy something new and exciting."

So too says Kath Purkis, founder of online boutique Le Black Book. Purkis, who launched her store earlier this year, sources close to 80 per cent of her stock from Australian designers with labels including Anna & Boy, DavisEyes, Daniel Avakian, Fleur Wood, Rachel Gilbert and Jessie Hill. The entrepreneur has also added Melanie Cutfield to her portfolio as a result of RAFW 2008.

"The spring/summer season is such a strong one in Australia and I feel many designers show there best work during this period," Purkis says. "The nature of Le Black Book as an online selling tool is a powerful method moving forward with the current economic climate because we target both the local and international market."

Purkis says swimwear label Anna & Boy sells particularly well in the American market, where demand for local swimwear is at an all-time high. The store's house label 'Le Black Book', however, will help to rouse regional sales in times of tough trade, Purkis adds.

"The house label is great for customers living in rural areas that are in financial hardship. I feel it's important to give the consumer choice - even our Australasian labels range from established to up and coming designers."

New Zealand-based boutique Good As Gold, which sources 60 to 70 per cent of its labels from Australia, has also diversified its portfolio of brands to include mid-range labels such as Shakuhachi and Thousand Reasons and top-market labels such as Alice McCall and Lover. Head buyer Ruben Bryant said the four-year-old company was "always conscious" of budgeting and rather than slash his fashion spend, he believes organisers could do more to ease the financial burden of travelling to RAFW.

"It would be great if the designers had showrooms all in the same spot so we didn't have to travel all over the city back and forth to do range viewings," he explains. "We come a long way to have to mission around Sydney so much at our own expense, especially when you attempt to book appointments in the same area around the same time and you get moved around and bumped to other days."

Aggravating the issue was the delayed release of RAFW's official schedule. "On top of the handful of shows we are able to get to, we have to plan 20 to 25 range viewings which are more important than shows to a buyer so we miss a lot." 
Looking ahead, will the budgeting constraints mean less buyer investment in RAFW? No, according to Adrenalin boutique's Dean McCauley.

"Fashion Week is a very important part of our business as after the event, we sit down and piece our store together for the forthcoming summer season," he says. "There are many people eager to put down the event but not buyers, who use it as a very important tool in their business." 

 By Assia Benmedjdoub