Fashion Careers are both local and global!

There are many business opportunities for those with the personal and technical skills to fashion a garment to an individual shape and your creativity and skills will contribute greatly to a revitalised fashion industry.

Since the move offshore of large scale manufacturing, the middle boutique market is burgeoning and has opened up a vibrant new market for fashion design and many small businesses and/or individual designers are competing on the world stage.The Mercedes Fashion Festival in Sydney and Melbourne has become a major event for international buyers and they are picking up designers every year.

Currently there are over 60 Australian labels exporting their designs to boutiques and Department stores in Asia, Europe and United States.They are able to access the global production chain just like the large scale manufacturers to achieve world best goals with their own resources and get quality short run production at an economic price. Liz Davenport is one example of an Australian designer who has been able to lower her customer prices since finding a quality maker in China.

The skill to create an original design is a great asset and it is this intellectual capital that will earn you a good income.

Fortunately,intellectual property is being respected more and more as individual designers like Bettina Liano, Scanlon and Theodore and Kit Willow take legal action against the copyists with great success. Even the mass chain retailers are beginning to realise the value of having original designers in their stable and are paying good money for intellectual property instead of flogging off their designs without permission!. Of course this old habit still persists in the industry but the market is demanding originality and good fit and are prepared to pay for it.

There will always be the cheaper,unoriginal mass market as well as the high end expensive designer labels but the fashion market can be compared to a beer barrel with a large growth factor in the middle for the boutique, short run market and/or individual made to measure in evening and bridal wear. This is the sector that can provide a good living for a designer/maker with 'hands-on' skills. This market does not always attract the publicity of the high end fashion scene and yet an evening at the 'Masters of Fashion' Awards each year in June is enough to show the extent of the creative design services the small business sector contribute to the Australian economy. This is a low cost entry career path and is well worth pursing with great economic and creative rewards.

You CAN build a business in your local community or aim to export your product overseas.This is your choice depending on your skill, drive and commitment!