At Philosophy Australia, we are honoured to have been invited to have a voice within the industry with Ali attending the Australian Fashion Council Sydney session on June 3 2025.
The round table session involved outlining the problems, suggesting solutions and highlighting the potential roadblocks for success.
Ali found the session to be inspiring and rewarding, and we all look forward to hearing the AFC’s response later this year after the sessions across the country are completed.
The key categories for consideration are:
- Policy & Incentives
- Fast fashion Tax
- Value Adding Product strategies
- Supply Chain Directory
- Benefit data analysis
- Labelling
- Made in Australia storytelling
- Creation of a Fashion Hub
- Government funding
Her four key takeaways:
- Philosophy Australia is in the minority, only 3% of clothing brands manufacture locally, and for those that do, not all of those are 100%. WE ARE 100% LOCALLY MADE.
- With the median age of skilled manufacturing workers now 57; we were already concerned about the long-term future of production locally. At 50, Ali is the youngest in the team, so as company we are keen to be involved in the process of on-skilling and education.
- Without a national campaign to “support local, buy local”, the well-meaning intentions of consumers will not be recognised. WE WILL CONTINUE TO USE OUR PLATFORM TO HIGHLIGHT.
- More needs to be done to support the companies, like us, manufacturing solely within the country, in terms of incentives and financial relief.
