How Dion Lee, Camilla and Megan Park take on the world
Dion Lee, Camilla and Megan Park go global.
So you want to export your ready-to-wear collections? This is how three influential designers have managed the seasonality question.
Megan Park
Founder, Megan Park
"In taking on retail, the design workload has definitely increased.
"I now design for the southern hemisphere with our Australian retail stores as a focus but alongside this I also design a northern hemisphere purely wholesale collection.
"Prior to having our own stores I designed firstly for the northern hemisphere which would later deliver into the Australian market however now as we are online and in fact the entire world is online, it has become impossible for this to work as it did five years ago.
"I now design two collections side by side to ensure our retail sales do not adversely compete with our strong international wholesale business where we sell a narrower and purely premium collection.
"Challenges are already there, nothing is static.
"Fortunately as time passes you learn how to ride with difficult situations a little easier and have faith that with the right people around you that you can work your way around these.
"Usually challenges bring about change which can ultimately be for the good."
Dion Lee
Founder, Dion Lee
"There was a period where we were kind of transitioning, but we’re very much in the northern hemisphere seasons now.
"The only season that I have a real problem with is the international fall/winter, which is our domestic spring/summer.
"That’s always the one that’s more challenging and consequently it just becomes a bigger collection, because you need options that are really relevant to both hemispheres.
"Resort works internationally, perfectly.
It’s kind of the best season for crossover. Then pre-fall works, the timing of that is great, it drops May/June which is when it’s cold in Australia.
"Then the international spring/summer ends up becoming a light Australian autumn/winter.
"We often add in a coat or a piece, but I think the heavier pieces, the knitwear, the coating is better positioned in pre-fall because it’s dropping earlier on for our climate.
"I think there’s advantages to Australia being not too...we don’t have super cold winters, so I think there’s an advantage there.
"I think every collection should be approached with the concept of transseasonlity. Especially with so many online retailers, it’s really broken down the barriers of ‘a season is a season.’"
Camilla
Jane McNally, CEO
"Geographically, our brand’s success knows no borders. We’re truly global and as far as Australian designers go, Camilla has one of the biggest footprints worldwide.
"Our biggest market is undoubtedly Australia, followed by the U.S which makes up 60% of our international wholesale market.
"Our team have really pushed the boundaries of design and form by taking the beautiful prints we are known for and applying them to knitwear, cotton/linen blends.
"Even developing a completely new style of jacket which is what we’ve just done for our upcoming SS17 From Rio With Love collection.
"Adaptability is key, but if you can find a way to expand cross-seasons but still have an instantly recognisable Camilla piece, you know you’ve hit gold.
"Part of our strategy has also been to align with channels such as hotels, resorts and cruise lines that have a business model based on leisure customers all year round.
"They simply adjust the offering based on seasonality and different markets which is exactly what we do.
"Some of our key partners in this space are the Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton, One and Only, W Hotels, Shangri-La, The Palm – just to name a few – and of course the luxury cruise shop ‘Residence of the Sea’. "