Hollywood dreaming
A childhood spent admiring the glamorous style of the world's best travelled women sparked a lifelong love of flamboyant frocks for the founder of womenswear label Wish, as Tracey Porter discovered.
Annette Cannock got her first whiff of Hollywood's allure while still a shy Sydney schoolgirl. Spending all her pre teen years at her mother's fashion boutique within the original Hilton Hotel complex, Cannock was so buoyed by the style of the women who shopped there she frequently rushed home to emulate the looks on her sewing machine at home.
But while that was enough to sustain her in her younger years, Cannock eventually came to the realisation that designing for others would not only sate her creative whim but had the added benefit of helping to pay the bills. A business degree at university beckoned but it too went by the wayside as the would-be came to acknowledge what she terms her life's "true calling".
"I started selling my designs at the markets and by 1999 the demand was so high that I had to move to a little studio in Surry Hills where I could concentrate on designing a full collection," she says. The early investment appears to have paid off. By 2000 her label Wish was stocked in boutiques around Sydney and by the following year it launched into boutiques across every state in Australia.
Today Wish wholesales its unique range of dresses, tops, skirts and shirts to around 200 boutiques across Australia and New Zealand. Often touted as one of the country's most recognisable womenswear brands, its loyal list of stockists include Pink in Victoria, Ravish in New South Wales and Petrol in Queensland.
It is also one of the few brands to avoid the exclusivity tag, conducting easy relationships with both Myer and David Jones departments store. High profile Australian celebrities known to have a soft spot for the label include actress Kate Ritchie, singer Paulini and model Tahyna Tozzi.
But while it may appear the early years were smooth sailing, Cannock's is no overnight success story. Nine hard years of graft have gone into making the label a success, and nothing was delivered on a plate. "There were plenty of challenges when we first started out," the Sydney-based designer argues.
"The biggest would have to be getting potential customers to trust my product. I just had to keep focused on my goals and not lose sight of what I set out to achieve. Once retailers and customers become familiar with my label they become regular clients and customers."
From a personal perspective, many sacrifices were made in the name of building the business from a shoebox operation into a profitable wholesale fashion house, she says. "I invested all my time, money and energy into my dream of creating a fashionable and chic label for the Australian fashion market. I really wasn't sure what the result would be but I tried damn hard to make the best of it."
In recent times Cannock, whose range of denim, knits, coats and accessories retail for between $80 and $150, has introduced two new brands to the stable in an attempt to satisfy her increasingly diverse clientele.
These came in the form of diffusion lines - after-five wear label Truese and youthwear brand Azuki. Drawing inspiration from the talents of the designers behind such labels as Marc Jacobs, Chloe, Gucci and Stella McCartney, Truese seeks to offer "glamorous style at an affordable price". Constructed from Egyptian beading, satins, furs and printed chiffons, it is available in sizes six to 14 and priced at between $210 and $270.
For its part Azuki, launched earlier this year, boasts a more casual feel and is targeted at a "younger and funkier" audience than its more contemporary counterparts. In an attempt not to alienate its customer base, the offshore manufactured label has kept its retail prices similar to those of Wish. Unable to keep still for long, Cannock is looking to expand her offshore presence beyond Australia and New Zealand with a firm eye on North America.
A move to diversify the business from wholesaler to retailer may also be on the cards, she hints. "At the moment we are expanding to the US and maybe one day we will take Wish to Europe. Retail stores sound great and we have many plans on the horizon, I guess we just need to see where the business takes us."
By Tracey Porter