EDUCATION
Many Australian fashion design students have the talent, but not always the financial resources, to make it in the competitive fashion industry.
According to Kaylene Milner, who teaches at the Fashion Design Studio, Sydney Institute, many talented graduates end up pursuing offshore careers or abandoning the fashion design industry altogether.
Milner is looking for ways to inspire her students with new and innovative approaches to the fashion business model.
"Australian fashion design students are graduating with impressive bodies of work that display a high level of creativity and innovation in regards to textiles, pattern making, garment construction and conceptual exploration of themes," Milner says. "Many of these students want to start their own business after graduation but are hindered by a lack of funding and resources." Milner says that with the closure of many prominent Australian design houses in the past five years, many students feel that starting their own business would be a risky and unwise career move.
"This is a problematic trend, which over the next few years will become more apparent," Milner says. "A decrease in emerging labels will ultimately mean less employment opportunities, a loss of Australian design identity and a gradual dwindling of what could be an exciting and lucrative Australian fashion industry. In order to buck this trend, what I believe is needed is a focus on creativity and innovation in the fashion business model." Utilising the funds she received from a 2016 Premier's TAFE NSW teacher's scholarship, Milner will set off in May on an international study tour to research the ways in which successful fashion design start-ups have approached the business.
"I want to look at businesses that acquire start-up capital through alternate routes such as crowd funding, as well as those implementing new and innovative ways of selling," Milner says. "I'm also interested in businesses that are integrating new technology and consumer habits into their business model, and those identifying niche markets and new opportunities." In Hong Kong, London, Antwerp, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, Milner will meet with creative industry leaders and innovators. At the 99U conference in New York, Milner will attend workshops, panels and lectures led by creative visionaries in a number of fields who specialise in idea execution.
"I will be going behind the scenes at design studios and conducting interviews with fashion entrepreneurs who have forged successful design careers using alternative business models," she says. "The study trip will provide myself and other teachers with knowledge gained from professionals at the forefront of business design innovation and creativity." Eager to share the intel on up-to-date case studies that will challenge students to think critically and question the current fashion business model, Milner intends to post regularly on the Fashion Design Studio Facebook page. She will also produce a series of short informative video interviews with designers and fashion business owners.
"It's my firm belief that innovation and creativity in fashion design needs to be supported by innovation and creativity in business design to give the skills acquired at TAFE a place and purpose in the industry," she says.