Over the last three decades, a combination of local and global forces has reshaped the Australian fashion industry which created pressures that make it harder for independent designers to thrive. In the 90s and 00s, Alannah Hill, Alice McCall and Sass & Bide became household names. Now Australians buy more clothes than ever, but few are made or even designed locally. What are your thoughts LiveTribers? What happened to the Australian fashion industry?
Posted by on 03 Jul 2023
Everything is so expensive, so we need to spend wisely
It's too expensive, so most looking for economical clothing
It's dying I guess. Less people going into the industry.
Living in Australia is not exactly cheap. Yes we have a high standard of living but with housing prices and lots of other expenses it makes sense to find cheaper alternatives to non-essentials like clothes.
Its too costly to produce here, and not enough machinery, and talent to make the clothes.
Pricing is the main factor along with online shopping. It is so much easier and cheaper at times to purchase fashion related items from overseas nowdays
Fair to say, the Australian fashion industry is pretty much dead.
Maybe we Australians do not like the so called fashions which are being foisted upon us. So we choose not to follow and hence not purchase.
The fashion industry is all about overpriced clothes and models who are too thin! Bad inspiration
Cheap imports from Asia and our higher wages and conditions have meant industry in fashion has gone offshore. I try to buy Australian brands but they are usually made overseas anyway. Difficult to get around when Asian countries pay workers very little and do not have government regulated conditions in workplaces.
Couldn't agree with you more.
too expensive and i dont find styles i like here i can buy from china, styles i love, prints i love and cheap, plus the sizing is great for me being on the small side the US again, does my size, styles and prints i love not as cheap but my 2 fav aus stores stock them here so i can get in a day or so V a week
Like everything we just don't manufacture products her anymore, so many cheap online options out ther now
Australia no longer has commercial material manufacturing - while people are buying more clothes - unfortunately, they do not appear to dress to impress - rather wear cheap casual mass produced "uniforms" made in China
There has been a greater awareness of our talented designers here and overseas. Normal everyday wear has become very affordable so people are splurging more on designer garments.
The availability of overseas fashion for a cheaper price is more easily accessible.
There’s a lot more alternative that is cheaper than the ones you talked about
People can’t afford it and tend to go for ‘fast fashion’ instead
It is cheaper to buy overseas imports and the Australian fashion industry could not compete with this.
People don't have the money to buy expensive high-quality clothes so end up buying cheaply made clothes made overseas.
We had this discussion recently with some of my students who hope to be models and/or actors. We no longer have Australian Project Runway nor Next Top Model and my students couldn't name more than a couple of local designers. I think it may be the economic downturn following on from Covid and the closure of all the TAFE colleges within our area in Queensland. Young women and girls now wear clothes which are so skimpy and revealing that many show no fashion taste at all. fortunately there are still some young guys who look well turned out and attractive. This is a woman nearer 80 than 70 speaking. Such a shame because beautiful clothes add to a person's personality and allure whether male or female.
As Australian gained more disposable income and they were dominantly urban their bias towards clothes as identified with their self image increased. Contemporaneously the young of our postwar migrants asserted themselves . ( European/Asian / etc.) eg Zampatti , Kwong, etc. Better communication and travel expanded choices ..... Physical production .over to the ( cheaper 3rd world) . Within these parameters diversity and complexity resulted in more variation Inevitably money made more top end while Kmart and other bottom end supply took over the bulk .....not forgetting that opshops were empowered by redistribution and the slow crumbling of top-down Anglo Celtic values . I need a coffee!! Good luck Richard
In my opinion, there is no real affordable decent Australian fashion any longer. Unfortunately with the economy the way it is, for a lot of people we simply can’t afford labels, hence global brands are more popular.
What happened to the Australian fashion industry? Australian companies realised that they could make more money by selling everything off and then buying the completed items back from countries with minimal labour costs. Not many people will pay $700+ for a suit made in Australia when it costs $25 to be made in an overseas sweat shop and be sold for $450 here.
Cheap Asian Labour, Multinational Company Greed, Labour Union intransigence and woke political decisions with consumer fickleness have ALL contributed to the local clothing industries demise. Asian and other third world size blanks arr a bloody disaster too!!!
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