Be the Change You Wish to See — Positive Prospects for the Australian Fashion Industry

Fashion360 CEO & Director, Thuy Nguyen

Fashion360 CEO & Director, Thuy Nguyen, reflects on a year of monumental change, for herself personally, and in the Australian fashion industry. Find out more about the situation that has presented itself as an opportunity for our local TCF community as a result of the global pandemic.

“Those who have an insight to my thoughts and opinions will understand that I am fiercely supportive of our Australian economy and aspire to contribute as much as I am able to through my work and spending habits. Whilst this has resulted in the frequent emptying of my pockets, it has always been satisfying knowing that I am distributing my income to other local pockets and justifying the micro part I play in the growth of the Australian economy.

This habit has consequently required that I continue to generate a consistent income, hence inspired me to keep my mind open and hands creating to provide diverse services for an industry which has always been a passion of mine, fashion. I have recently reached a point, however, where converting these services for currency is no longer sufficient to fulfil my intrinsic need. There needed to be more purpose.

For nearly 10 years, after being in industry for 15, I have dedicated my time to working closely with emerging fashion designers and businesses within the sector, to support, advise and convey industry knowledge and skills as well as connecting them to industry networks.

A key message that I encouraged everyone to take away and apply, was to use local make and to test the product and market before deciding to produce in numerous quantities offshore.

Never has there been a time when this advice is made more relevant, not only due to the finite resources of our planet, but the detrimental impacts of COVID-19 has meant that cheaper, overseas production and delivery timeframes have become an unreliable option. This, alongside other factors such as deteriorating relationships within governments of significant countries, has suddenly highlighted the need for self-sufficiency within our industry capabilities which, for too long, has been neglected.

Now more than ever there is a need to focus on local industry development and support to ensure our businesses are self-sufficient, sustainable and in-turn, future-proofed.

This, in theory sounds simplistic but the reality is, skills-based acquisition has been in the decline over the past decade. There are very few left within the industry who possess the ability and knowhow to produce fashion products at an acceptable to high-quality level, and those with these refined skills are on the verge of retiring age.

This decline has occurred due to a combination of factors, namely the influx of fast fashion and government legislation demanding unrealistic measures required only of the TCF industry.

These issues resulted in the quick demise of Australian made, and offshoring became the norm for most fashion businesses looking to stay afloat amidst the saturated global competition…until now.

2020 arrived, bringing with it an unprecedented pandemic which unravelled all processes and strategies to shreds for the entire global economy.

Lives and livelihoods were vastly impacted but there was a silver lining emerging — a sense of comradery in many corners of the globe which I translated as hope for humanity and our future going forward.

Even at the face of having been made redundant due to our company closure, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief and rested on the hope that we can reset and take this opportunity to change systems in our industry for the better of our planet and country.

For the past 10 months, queries for local manufacturing from emerging fashion businesses have increased by numerous folds. There would have been only 1 out of every 10 businesses I spoke with who had expressed an interest in going offshore for the production of their designs.

The need for Australian made became on trend and for the first time in over a decade, pattern makers, factories, contract cutters and sewers were highly sought after. Every factory was inundated with so much work they could no longer accept more. Manufacturers went about recruiting for more skilled staff but there were few to fill the positions required. The TCF industry is in dire supply of quality skilled workers.

Having been a fashion Vocational Education Trainer as well as working with Fashion Degree students at university, I’ve come to the realisation that these graduates are not equipped with the adequate technical knowledge and skills to seamlessly transition into industry. There are very few designer jobs available leaving a huge percentage of fashion graduates without employment in their area of study.

Some have made a leap of faith and created their own employment through starting a business which generally is a huge undertaking only the strong and resilient can sustain.

Circling back to my introduction paragraph, my purpose!

Prior to closure, QUTCEA approved the transferral and full legal rights of the Fashion360 trademark and all IP held within, to my new company.

I am super excited to announce that, together, with my very small but driven team, we will continue to grow this brand with a mission to bring our local fashion communities together and provide industry relevant training, workshops and programs to up-skill the industry and support Australia’s journey towards a more self-sustained future with higher quality outputs.

We will strive for systemic change with a goal to reroute the mindset of Australians to appreciate the art and skills applied to all Australian made fashion.

Let’s promote buy local and support our nationwide communities!

It is long overdue, but even our governments are finally on board with the concept!”

Thuy Nguyen, Fashion360 CEO & Director.

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