Legendary Australian fashion designer Aurelio Costarella has died aged 60, following a short but brave battle with a rare brain disease. Here, Ragtrader revisits a story he wrote for the title after his final collection. Vale Aurelio. Thank you for always sharing your wisdom.
I started my business in 1983 with my mother's (via my grandmother) Singer treadle, a dining room table that doubled as a cutting table and a landline.
I was self-taught as a fashion designer with only my architectural training behind me. I didn't have a clue about marketing a collection or running a fashion business. I learned by making mistakes. I recall buying my first fax machine in the early 90s - that was revolutionary!
Social media and eCommerce has changed the landscape phenomenally. Who knew. Now a designer starting out can market themselves and establish a following before they have launched their first collection. It's a strange landscape where PR has taken precedence over the actual product.
Technology keeps changing the game and we are being expected to keep up. It's not sustainable.
I look at how much the industry has changed just the last five to 10 years. I can't begin to imagine where we'll be in another five. I want things to slow down. I want to see a return to investment in beautiful pieces. No more of this crazy 'landfill' fashion.
Unfortunately the appreciation of quality is being lost. There is a growing trend to consume without caring about the quality or integrity of the purchase. We creatives can't keep working at this crazy pace. We have no time to incubate ideas. It's all producing more and more, SKUs, deadlines and more and more collections.
I've had so many highlights over the last 33 years - I started when I was 19! Definitely my very first show at New York Fashion Week at Bumble and Bumble - it was a goal I had been working towards for some time. My last show at New York Fashion Week at Bryant Park was quite surreal, being on after Zac Posen and right before Marc Jacobs.
In 2013, I celebrated 30 years in the industry and was celebrated with a retrospective exhibition at the WA Museum. It was a huge moment for me to be able to see all the work I had created over the years, exhibited in such an innovative way in a spectacular setting. It was surreal.
In November 2015, I opened a beautiful flagship store in the renovated Treasury Building in Perth that houses the entire Aurelio Costarella collections.I loved wondering around that space. And in 2016, I loved being inducted into the DIA Hall of Fame absolutely tops it off. It was so unexpected and such an honour. Testament to 33 years of bloody hard work!
Being Perth based has been the greatest challenge and working hard to maintain that. It hasn’t been an easy journey. The isolation, the need to travel, limited resources in the very early days. Achieving the level of quality I required with such a small manufacturing sector in Perth back in the 80s/90s was incredibly tough. I couldn't find a store in Perth that would take on a local designer.
It wasn't until I began selling into Sydney and Melbourne in 1987 that I eventually managed to pick up a stockist in my hometown!
Different generations will have different hurdles to overcome. Fashion has always been a tough gig for various reasons. It does feel tougher now. Globalisation has changed the game. There is so much more pressure and expectation. The market is far more competitive and the high-end retail market has shrunk.
I remember having 100 stockists in Australia at one point. Finding a multi-brand boutique to sell to now is rare. Most of them have gone or only support international brands… it's sad. And then you have to get paid. That's a whole other issue.
If I could give one piece of advice to future designers, it would be to work for someone. Learn from a mentor. Don't think about rushing out and opening your own business. It's not that easy. Observe, absorb and learn.
Keep it small and take baby steps.
Everyone is in such a rush these days to get to the top. It's time to slow it back down. Learn the business. Work out the pitfalls before being too eager to get out there… and when you do, it’s one magical crazy adventure.
So enjoy it.