Profile
Courtney Miller
Courtney is the General Manager of the Australian Fashion Chamber.
What role does the Australian Fashion Chamber play in the local fashion industry?
The Australian Fashion Chamber (AFC) is motivated by the vision to strengthen, promote and develop Australian fashion design by nurturing talent, originality and success both locally and internationally. This is a pretty massive and challenging ambit—it involves everything from advocacy with government and business, through to helping our members find a supplier, make a business plan or think about their sponsorship.
Our scope expands to include just about everything, but our main priority is helping our designers run more sustainable, innovative and entrepreneurial businesses. We want a solid local industry that competes effectively in a global environment.
What were you doing before joining the AFC? Has this experience influenced your approach at the AFC?
I’ve had a few careers—my academic background is in Government and International Relations, and I was able to apply the theoretical to the real world through my work in high levels of Federal Government on trade agreements, legislation and industry policy making. I also did a short stint for the UN in Kenya, when I really wanted to get into microfinance. I switched into the creative world when I began working as the Head of Communications for the Museum of Contemporary Art, which I loved.
This has all helped me enormously in my current role. I need to understand how government operates and what it focuses on, I need to understand the imperatives of businesses, and I need to relate to creative people. I couldn’t do what I do without all of those previous experiences. I'm also fortunate to be working alongside AFC's diverse board members who all contribute invaluable expertise.
In what ways do your personal values shape your work?
I have always loved fashion. It’s how we express ourselves and it’s a way of communicating to people without speaking. But I also know the fashion world can be unsustainable. I really respect the designers who create truly beautiful things with integrity and without cutting corners, and who also have integrity in the way they operate their business. You have to make money to survive long term, but I don’t believe that money should be the only motivating factor.
I also love people, with all of their foibles. We’re a crazy, wonderful breed and I’m continually surprised by our ingenuity, insanity and diversity.
Courtney Miller
“I love people, with all of their foibles. We’re a crazy, wonderful breed and I’m continually surprised by our ingenuity, insanity and diversity.”
How would you describe your relationship with clothing/style?
It’s always in a state of flux. It changes with my environment, my job and the people I’m hanging out with. When I go home to Byron Bay, I literally wear two things for a week. It’s so easy—somehow things don’t need to be washed, and I feel distaste for everything other than swimmers and throw-on dresses. When I’m back in the city I love dressing up. I like it all, and it’s fun to change it up and experiment with something you might never have imagined wearing.
What are some of the greatest lessons you have learned from working with Australia’s leading fashion brands?
It’s a long game, and everything comes out in the wash. No pun intended! It’s an industry that is ridiculously competitive and thus is full of some phenomenally talented people. But it’s also sexy and attracts tonnes of people who are there only for the glamour and a good time. The one thing that sorts the wheat from the chaff is time—the industry is small enough in Australia for everyone to eventually work each other out.
Additionally, I’ve learned that you don’t have to like people to respect them. They might not be who you call on the weekend, but you can respect the people that are decent and true to their word. Business is tough, and respect and trust is really important.
How has your attitude towards fashion changed as you've aged?
I like to think it has become more French—more about quality and less about trends. I need to go so many places and ‘be’ so many things in a day so my outfit needs to look top—I’m running the peak industry body after all—but also be comfortable. Take it from me, hauling bags of brochures across Sydney in heels is not enjoyable.
What is it about the Australian fashion industry that sets it apart from the rest of the world?
Where we live and how we live. Although it’s a little clichéd, we can’t help but be impacted by the landscape in which we live. We have a unique history that is Western, but also puts us in a region within Asia. We really are a successful cosmopolitan society—our waves of immigrants have made us who we are, and we are better for it.
We are also more affluent than we’ve ever been. That may not be true across the board, and it may not be what we hear, but our standard of living is better than it has ever been and that means we have time to put into creative pursuits. We should occasionally talk less about property and more about style!
Courtney Miller
"The one thing that sorts the wheat from the chaff is time—the industry is small enough in Australia for everyone to eventually work each other out. I’ve learned that you don’t have to like people to respect them. They might not be who you call on the weekend, but you can respect the people that are decent and true to their word. Business is tough, and respect and trust is really important."
In today’s context, what challenges do you feel fashion companies are facing?
Time. I think that’s pretty obvious to those in the industry who face this ongoing pressure.
It’s a complicated business: a designer might buy fabric from Japan, manufacture in China or Italy or both, wholesale in the United States, and then retail in Australia. This makes the supply chain SO incredibly complicated, and difficult for small businesses to manage, especially if a creative person is at the helm.
Then there are all the timing conversations. Should you show at a fashion week? If so, a local or international week? Should you show men’s and women’s together? Should your collection be in-store as soon as you show? And then there are all the big questions floating around the global fashion discourse that haven’t landed yet. There is no ‘right’ answer to these questions, so brands have to look at who they are and find the answers themselves.
When you look to the future of fashion, what do you see? What systemic changes do you think need to be made in order for the industry to move forward?
I think it needs to slow down. People engaging with brands are being bombarded with content and no-one can keep up, including the consumer. Social media is demanding, but it shouldn’t dictate everything.
There will always be a need for industry events—you can’t just have clothes magically appear. But either we have better designer-to-consumer models, or buyers, magazines and the media need to be able to connect and engage with designers in different ways so that the lead time is not as long.
What excites you about the future of the AFC?
The world is a big bad place and it helps to have friends. If we can make it that little bit easier and more approachable for the great fashion design talent Australia has, we’ll all be a little better off.
Photography Claire Summers
Production Sigrid McCarthy
Learn more about the Australian Fashion Chamber
