Friedrich Gray to take on European buyers

SYDNEY: Ben Pollitt plans to kill two birds with one stone during a planned sourcing trip to Europe. The Friedrich Gray designer is hoping to break into the European ready-to-wear market while honouring his duties as the recipient of the 2008 L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival (LMFF) Designer of The Year award. As part of the award, which was presented by Australian wool giant Woolmark, Pollitt will be flown to Paris to attend the Premiere Vision fabric show from September 23 to 26. 

Following the event, Pollitt will present his latest spring/summer collection at fashion trade fair Rendez-Vous, which runs from October 2 to 5. The designer will be in good company with local labels Alice McCall, Karen Walker, Buddhist Punk and Nom*d having shown at the event since 2004. 

Pollitt said he hoped to re-educate European buyers on the qualities of wool, with more than 50 per cent of his collection produced from lightweight variations of the fabric. Pollitt's current collection ranges from $275 for a digitally printed tank to $1300 for a leather jacket.

"Wool in Europe is traditionally seen as a winter fabric but I want to show how it can be used to make luxury, lightweight [garments] for summer. That's the goal - break into Europe because I think that's where my product is going to sell well."

Although the 25-year-old designer has a small but established stockist base in Australia, which includes The Corner Shop, Incu and the Fat stores in Melbourne, he counts CK Tang (Asia) and Cara & Co (Russia) as his key international clients. Australian Wool Innovation, of which Woolmark is a subsidiary, has already organised a meeting between Pollitt and luxury Parisian boutique Collette for late September.

Pollitt said the collection he planed to present would include exclusive prints made in collaboration with Think Positive Designer Prints in Sydney. He hoped the company's unique dying technique would prove to be a draw card for European clients.

"The way [Think Positive] digitally print is unique in the world because they achieve true, true colours like true blacks and true blues which is hard to achieve through digital printing. It actually dyes into the fibres so when you pull the fabric apart and stretch it, each yarn is dyed."

Pollitt launched his unisex Friedrich Gray label in 2006 after working as a fashion stylist in New York. Along with his 2008 LMFF Designer of the Year Award, Pollitt was also announced as the Australian Protégé for an international wool program earlier this year.

By Assia Benmedjdoub