Chance To Get A Start In Fashion
The Age
Monday April 26, 1999
The once pounding heart of Melbourne's rag trade received an injection of fresh blood last week with the opening of Australia's first fashion incubator in Flinders Lane.
The Melbourne Fashion Incubator, which was opened by the Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business, Mr Peter Reith, and the Lord Mayor, Cr Peter Costigan, last Tuesday, will provide aspirant fashion gurus with studio space, management and administrative support and practical business training.
The MFI will provide a home and a helping hand to up to 30 fledgling fashion and design entrepreneurs.
Flinders Lane, formerly the centre of Melbourne's clothes manufacturing and wholesaling industry, has been transformed over the years into an enclave for Melbourne's artistic and fashion communities. It was with this in mind that Ms Carol McCabe, executive manager of the MFI, decided to establish the incubator in the area.
``The establishment of the incubator on this once thriving street can be seen as part of the ongoing rejuvenation of the area," she said.
Ms McCabe first came up with the idea for a Melbourne fashion incubator more than two years ago.
``After working with mature-age unemployed people for more than five years, I came to realise that small business was a terrific panacea for unemployment," she said.
But given the variety of problems commonly faced by small businesses, Ms McCabe felt that many operators required nurturing if they were to succeed.
``I think incubators are a terrific vehicle for assisting all sorts of businesses. If the incubator is run properly and has the right sort of management, then I think they're a fantastic way of growing small businesses," she said.
Small businesses established in incubators had a significantly higher survival rate than ``un-incubated" businesses, she said.
Unincubated businesses have a crash rate of anywhere up to 80per cent, and in the notoriously cut-throat world of high fashion, crash rates can be even higher.
Ms McCabe said the MFI would help fashion businesses combat many of the pitfalls frequently encountered, providing them with a dynamic environment in which to operate. It would provide an important focus for an industry often seen as fragmented and out of touch with mainstream tastes.
She said the incubator would equip participants with a range of practical business and industry-specific skills, as well as giving them access to industry networking and mentoring opportunities.
The MFI is offering would-be tenants flexible lease opportunities, with a three-month minimum incubation period.
Ms McCabe said tenants were being selected according to their commitment to growing their businesses, but the incubator's door was wide open to a whole range of industry representatives.
``If you can think of something you can make in the fashion industry, then you can come along and make it here," she said.
``Designers, fabric printers, shoe makers, milliners and jewellers are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the variety of businesses we expect will be attracted to this innovative project," she said.
After only a few days, the MFI is already a quarter full and, according to Ms McCabe, the industry response has been enthusiastic.
The $300,000 funding for the project was provided by the Federal Government and the City of Melbourne.
© 1999 The Age