The Australian Fashion Council (AFC) has unveiled the latest cohort of designers set to showcase their collections through AFC Virtual on Ordre.
The online showroom gives designers the opportunity to sell their new collections to trade buyers, all while remaining socially distanced.
Ginger & Smart, Aje, Helen Kaminski, Camilla, We Are Kindred, Lisa Carnry Design, Et Cetera, Shapes in the Sand and We Are Kindred are the latest Australian designer additions to be showcasing their wares in the AFC Virtual showrooms this week.
The platform launched May 11 with showrooms from Ngali, Nico, Autark, Mastani, P.E. Nation, Porcelain Brigid McLaughlin, Strateas Carlucci, Third Form, West 14th, and X Nihilo, which will all continue this month.
To gain further insights into how this initiative is helping designers counteract the effects of COVID-19, Ragtrader spoke to Ngali founder, Denni Francisco.
Please describe your label, Ngali.
Ngali is a First Nation, high quality clothing and accessory brand.
We support Indigenous talent and mindful manufacturing and style that lasts.
We work with our Indigenous artists to translate their art onto silk fabrics to produce our collections of dresses, pants, tops and scarves.
Our designs are created to have the translated artwork be the hero.
We are a for profit social enterprise, supporting through our business activity, our children living in remote areas so that they may build their literacy and IT skills.
Why are you participating in AFC Virtual?
We are participating in AFC virtual to help us recover lost sales due to COVID.
We are also participating as we see it as having the potential to build our brand nationally and internationally.
The event will help us to build our profile to new customers, both B2B and B2C and it has the potential to make up for the loss we have suffered from COVID-19.
We are hoping that the promotional activity around AFC virtual and the contacts of Ordre will assist with this.
As an emerging brand this type of exposure is hugely beneficial for us.
What are you showcasing at AFC Virtual?
We are showcasing our range of high-quality silk scarves featuring the photography and artwork of Australian Indigenous artists.
At this time we are wholesaling our scarf collections only, with the view to extend to our clothing when it makes business sense to do so.
How has your business been impacted by COVID-19?
One of the impacts has been the hold up in receiving our printed fabrics from China due to the delay from their factory closures earlier in the year.
This has meant we have been unable to manufacture our autumn/winter range.
We are fortunate that we already have our delivery of scarves and are well positioned now to continue with taking those wholesale orders.
Of course, our sales levels at the start of a new season have been dramatically impacted.
We had invested in our sample making, photoshoots and marketing activity for an autumn/winter release and had participated in the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival (VAMFF).
We have not been able to benefit from any of this and it has put a strain on our cashflow given we now need to work towards the spring/summer season.
How do you believe fashion will be changed from the current global events?
I very much believe that virtual showrooms have a strong place for the future.
Virtual showrooms definitely give a brand like ours the opportunity to show more broadly and give us more opportunity to reach a wider audience without the huge investment that has been needed in the past.
It will really depend on how the virtual platforms are presented and the level of marketing that is provided.