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Media Release
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September, 2006
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Calling All Up and Coming Fashion Stars
Starting out in the fashion industry can be a daunting experience to say the least. There are all the challenges of starting any new business but in the fashion industry you have enough additional concerns to make the fashion stars of tomorrow wonder if they have made the right career choice.
Where to sell, what to sell, where to find key business associates that can help a label grow, how does one predict the fashion trends of next season, how can you export your designs or protect your label against copyright infringements. These are all just a few of the concerns any new designer faces but there is help available.
The TCF Australia Business Skills Project is a national program providing the necessary business skills for Australian fashion designers. There are many ways designers can get involved including business skills workshops, on line web information sessions, industry forums, on line business mentoring and telephone help line services.
The help and support doesn’t end there. A national TCF (Textiles Clothing and Footwear) Directory is being collated and designers are urged to act now to be in it. The directory will be a one stop source for anyone in the fashion industry looking for another fashion professional. This could be a dress designer looking for a jeweller to add pieces for a fashion show or a new designer looking for a retail agent to distribute their clothing lines. The project also has a focus on young entrepreneurs under 35, indigenous and multicultural designers.
In addition to these important developments is the designedge fashion incubator located at the busy Belmont Forum Shopping Centre in Western Australia. The shop is the largest community incubator of it’s kind in Australia with over 70 designers showing in store and is seeking to setup further designedge fashion incubator networks across Australia.
Other Initiatives of the TCF Australia Business Skills project is to also assist in Value Adding to Australia’s wool clip though the linking of designers with new innovations in wool fibres and encourage wool product developments with wool and the project will also provide Industry Forums across Australia to assist with the Understanding of Aboriginal Culture and Design and is assisting to develop a national network of TCF businesses wishing to link with an indigenous textile artists and designers to assist forwards for further product development.
For further information for those wishing to join the TCF Australia Business Skills project email info@tcfaustralia.com or visit www.tcfaustralia.com
The TCF Australia Business Skills Project is an Australian Government funded project under the Building Entrepreneurship in Small Business program (BESB) and is supported by the Textile Clothing Footwear Resource Centre of WA Inc. (TCFWA), Belmont BEC – Small Business Centre belmont (SBC) designedge fashion incubator, WA Dept of Agriculture Wool Program, WA Dept of Industry & Resources, Business & Professional Women WA, Australia Post, Belmont Forum, sponsors, supporters and volunteers.
Media Contact: Carol Hanlon
Phone: 61 8 9479 3777 Mobile: 0417 963 231 eMail: carol.hanlon@tcfwa.com
