Innovation: it's a seasonal affair

The success of Tanya Carlson's fashion business didn't happen overnight, as she tells ADAM JONES.

In the fashion industry, each season a designer must innovate and achieve commercial viability for their products.

Tanya Carlson has thrived in this environment since starting her Dunedin-based business in 1992.

During L'Oreal New Zealand Fashion Week everyone was talking about Carlson, and the company was also recently named one of New Zealand's fastest-growing businesses in the Deloittes/Unlimited Fast 50.

Ms Carlson says because of the publicity received during fashion week, many people thought they had "shot out of nowhere". But this couldn't be further from the truth - recent success resulted from "clear, long-term plans."

Ms Carlson came back to New Zealand from art school in Australia in 1990 to find the "fashion industry in tatters". She advertised in a newspaper and landed a job with Verve, a label specialising in top-end women's fashion.

Eighteen months later she bought the label with a small loan, then within 24 hours sold it, minus the company's equipment.

This type of business savvy is apparent throughout Ms Carlson's career, something she puts down to believing in the "gut feeling" and "not second-guessing anything".

The business practice of always employing experts and "paying to do it properly", has also put the business on a firm footing.

Her made-to-measure service grew quickly and Ms Carlson employed machinists from the outset. By 1997, she was ready to manufacture a range. This was a big turning point for the designer, as until then the business had "always run in the black".

Ms Carlson needed around $50,000 to get the range out and struggled to find the money. The bank's attitude, Ms Carlson says, was "so you've never done a women's range before?".

She credits her staff with successfully getting the range out. "Everyone just banded together and made it happen."

Ms Carlson can confirm the Gem report finding on the lack of venture capital here. She says the "just go and do it" attitude is not enough. To compete and survive in an export market, she says, "you just cannot be under-capitalised".

In the early days, large export orders were a problem for Ms Carlson.

Funding had to be secured for expensive fabric, overheads and staff. A return on the investment would then take a typical retail business cycle of eight or nine months.

This eventually led to Ms Carlson taking on two directors, Phil Matheson and David Dewhurst, to enable Carlson's further growth.

Mr Dewhurst worked with British company Marks & Spencer, helping move them into the Portuguese market. Mr Matheson left his marketing position at Otago University to pursue entrepreneurial ventures.

Having the directors has freed up Ms Carlson to design and work on expanding the collection. It also added capital to the business.

Loyal to Dunedin, Ms Carlson refused offers to move to the US. A friend in California offered her help with relocation and finding start-up funding for the business. Ms Carlson replied, "just give me five years, if it doesn't work then I might think about it." Five years have passed and Ms Carlson is adamant that the Dunedin environment is conducive to her creativity.

The fashion critics agree and have compared work coming out of Dunedin with the Antwerp six. This group of Belguim designers, with a dark gothic style, went on to become a dominant fashion force in the mid 80s.

She says Dunedin offers a "great creative environment and low overheads". But she travels regularly to see clients in Sydney and to her Auckland shop.

Ms Carlson now employs four people in the Auckland retail store, 10 in Dunedin and five to six out-workers. The move from four employees to six and beyond was difficult, she says.

Her advice to budding entrepreneurs is to "be aware, tuned-in and always looking around for opportunities". Passion is another prerequisite, she says, "you've got to be fired up about what you are doing."

Ms Carlson has always been a goal-setter and says, "I never worked as hard for anyone else as I had to for myself ... if you looked at what you get paid, it would probably be $2 an hour, especially in the beginning. You just do anything to keep going." But she has "always loved doing it".

Mr Matheson says that this is what clinched the deal in bringing him on board. "We interviewed Tanya on a Sunday morning and it was her passion and vision that finally tipped the scales."

Tanya Carlson has a vision for the future and plans to expand sales in Sydney and the US. The company she started is now in the top 50 New Zealand growth businesses.

www.fashionz.co.nz

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