Dedicated city backing for fashion

By DITA DE BONI

Auckland City Council says it will look at ways to encourage high-end manufacturing pockets in the city to capitalise on local designers making waves in overseas fashion.

This week, the council's city attractions committee also consulted high-end Auckland designers on how to develop High St as a tourist destination.

On Wednesday night, representatives from top city design houses, including Karen Walker, Moontide, State of Grace and Silk Road, met the committee to discuss ideas for capitalising on recent fashion success in both London and Sydney.

Among the ideas were a fashion parade to showcase local designers, a tag-on event to Sydney Fashion Week, and the closure of High St and promotion of the retail strip as a pedestrian shopping mall.

As bulk manufacturing lines slip overseas to cheaper production areas, New Zealand designers are finding niche market success with high-end lines, innovative design and the use of local materials in export markets.

Apparel and textiles contributed around $300 million in exports to the New Zealand economy last year, a third of that figure coming from Auckland production lines.

The chairwoman of the committee, Victoria Carter said there were opportunities to create an infrastructure to support Auckland designers to improve their export potential and make it easier for them to do business.

She said the council would not offer "direct help" or subsidies to boost the industry in the city.

But it could offer rates incentives and organise training programmes, as well as looking at pockets of leasable space in the city with the aim of creating a fashion "precinct."

"Other tangible areas for Auckland City to support the textile and apparel sector are to lobby the Minister of Economic Development," she said.

"We are very concerned that plans released by the [ministry] do not support the big city, where we have 2 per cent more unemployment overall than the rest of the country.

"We could make it more attractive for people to relocate in these areas ... we can support in terms of signage and publicising the idea."

Victoria Carter said that while the council had been approached by several groups to work on business incubator-type schemes, it had decided to focus on businesses where success was already established.

The high-end design industry was a prime example of where top designers were forging a name for New Zealand in overseas markets, in turn opening doors to up-and-coming businesses.

Apparel and Textile federation head Paul Blomfield, who also attended Wednesday night's meeting, said the industry was pleased that those making decisions were finally treating it as a serious export earner.

There were specific areas of help needed to boost the industry's fledgling position.

"The needs of the industry are to reconnect design and manufacturing. We need to have skilled providers and designers working more closely together.

"We have a shortage of qualified machinists and pattern cutters - Auckland City could alleviate their employment issues by helping to provide programmes to train people in these skills."

Mr Blomfield said it was not true that manufacturing was all but dead on the New Zealand apparel and textile landscape.

"The high-end of the industry is looking to take on workers, so clearly there is some role for manufacturing of niche product. I have a vision of New Zealand as the designer boutique of the world."

Denise L'Estrange-Corbet, of World, said she was excited by the prospect of making High St a tourist destination and encouraging Aucklanders themselves to "return to the city to do [their] shopping."

"It would be great if the fashion industry in High St was promoted to tourists as a `must-go-see' area, like Bond St in London."