Mindful Fashion’s Groundbreaking Report Unpicks The State Of Our Fashion Industry

Aotearoa’s fashion industry is bigger than anyone thought and adds billions to the economy, Mindful Fashion’s new report reveals. But, during a critical turning point for the sector, what does it propose we do next?

Belt-tightening and bleak vibes seem to be the general sentiment in New Zealand right now. Business confidence is down, employment is up and so is the cost of living. It’s not even winter yet and things feel gloomy.

On the fashion front, a chill has been rippling through the industry since the beginning of this year. Pioneering designer Kate Sylvester decided to close her business after three decades; Trade Aid is closing its stores; Benjamin Alexander, Mina, Hej Hej and Starving Artists Fund are shutting up shop too.

And while fashion has traditionally sold a dream of fantasy and aspiration, it’s more and more difficult to pretend, and 2024 has seen industry figures being increasingly (and refreshingly) candid about the current challenges facing the industry.

Last Thursday we broke the news that New Zealand Fashion Week is postponing this year’s event to 2025, citing — among other things — the difficult economic environment coupled with its sense of responsibility to the local fashion industry. It’s a responsible decision, says Viva fashion director Dan Ahwa, who notes that the move allows retailers and designers to prioritise their core customers, and gives Fashion Week time to consider its future and how it can adapt.

How those retailers were faring has been a topic of recent discussion, with Viva writer Madeleine Crutchley talking to local shopkeepers about the reality of running a clothing boutique in 2024.

For an industry built on aspiration and aesthetic appeal — as well as function, quality and need — it feels like things are hard and getting harder. But are they really? A new report from Mindful Fashion New Zealand, Threads of Tomorrow: Crafting The Future of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Fashion, Clothing and Textiles Landscape, seeks to answer that.

“Our mission from the start has been to unite the industry to create an innovative, full-circle and thriving future,” says Jacinta FitzGerald, chief executive of Mindful Fashion, who describes the report as a milestone and a roadmap that articulates a vision for the future. “We’re at a critical turning point as an industry.”

First intimated during the speeches at the inaugural Mindful Fashion New Zealand Circular Fashion Design Awards — piquing our interest — the report was released today.

Threads of Tomorrow outlines the current state of the industry, the desired future and how to get there, detailing 15 recommendations across four action areas.

It’s timely, says FitzGerald, given the economic environment, which she describes as a challenge across the board. “This makes the launch of this report which tells the story of the value of our industry, so relevant.”

Juliette Hogan, fashion designer and Mindful Fashion board chairwoman, says the report is groundbreaking and long been needed. “It showcases who we are as an industry, it highlights all the different facets that make up what we are,” she says, noting the fashion’s economic and cultural contributions to New Zealand. “It proves that this industry does matter.”

The results are, to deploy a term we don’t use lightly here at Viva, revealing.

What are the key takeaways?

New Zealand’s fashion, clothing and textiles industry (NZFCTI) is bigger than anyone realised, and the data truly quantifies the scale and depth of the industry, which FitzGerald says is significant.

The industry added $7.8 billion to the economy in 2023, and accounted for 1.9 per cent of GDP.

“The economic contribution of the industry today has been completely underestimated,” says Tim Deane, managing director of Norsewear. “If you asked the average New Zealander which sector contributes more to the New Zealand economy, the New Zealand clothing and textile industry or building construction — what do you think they would say?” (Building construction accounts for 1.4 per cent of GDP).

It employs 76,001 employees, approximately 2.6 per cent of the country’s labour force — 78 per cent of which are women — who were collectively paid $4.4b in wages last year.

This gender skew is significant, and the report highlights how the health of the sector is tied to the economic wellbeing of women. “Not many industries would have such a high weighting of female employees,” says Hogan.

Companies big and small are facing similar challenges. Business costs are rising, investment and capital are hard to access, there’s a shortage of skilled workers and increased competition with international brands.

Making clothes in New Zealand isn’t cheap or easy. The report highlights the steep decline in local manufacturing since the 1980s, and the gravity of potentially losing domestic production entirely.

Scale has a major impact on manufacturing. The Mindful Fashion report found 36 per cent of micro, small and medium-sized businesses used entirely New Zealand-based manufacturers to create their finished products. Ten per cent of manufacturers used by large businesses are located domestically.

Local brands really do service local markets. Eighty-one per cent of New Zealand-based businesses sell the majority of their finished goods domestically. Only 18 per cent are exported.

There’s huge potential in circularity. From job creation to harnessing value in materials and reducing costs, reimagining New Zealand’s fashion system with circularity in mind is, Mindful Fashion says, paramount for the future.

Why did they commission a report and how did it happen?

The industry collective — established in 2019 as a way to improve sustainability, but quickly expanding to encompass wider, structural industry issues — has worked with Ernst and Young NZ (EY) on the report.

“We undertook this foundational study because experience showed us that in order to effectively advocate for the policies and government engagement required for the industry to tackle its challenges and reach its potential, we needed to provide the evidence,” FitzGerald explains.

To date, action has been stalled due to lack of industry data and a collective industry agenda, FitzGerald says. She says it’s critical for the industry to come together and work collectively if New Zealand is to have a healthy and thriving clothing and textile sector.

Mindful Fashion approached EY, began surveying the industry in November 2024 through stakeholder workshops, interviews and surveys, and consulting global initiatives like Australian Fashion Council and the British Fashion Council’s institute of Positive Fashion.

FitzGerald says working with EY was fantastic. “They brought their research and in-depth data analysis skills, and the New Zealand team worked with their Australian arm so we could benefit from the knowledge and experience their Australian team gained during their work for the sector across the Tasman.”

What’s at stake for Aotearoa’s fashion industry?

Everything, according to Hogan, who stresses that the industry is at a critical turning point. “Unless we start to see changes being made, we are at real risk of going beyond where it’s possible to come back from. In my opinion it is not ever comprehendible to think about us not having an industry here,” she says. “It would be an absolute travesty to lose the ability to design and manufacture fashion here in New Zealand.”

She sees the main challenges as growing a skilled workforce and enabling a circular economy, but believes there is much opportunity for progress in these areas. “The report highlights this and offers recommendations as to how to mitigate the challenges moving forward. There are significant opportunities, and I am excited about seeing these be brought to life.”

Hurdles are numerous and growing; the cost of doing business is increasing, there’s increasing international competition, manufacturing capabilities are shrinking and there’s a shortfall in training.

“The report shows the true interconnectedness of the challenges and opportunities the industry has in front of it,” FitzGerald says. “It captures the nuances of the local industry’s challenges around competition from global brands, skills shortages and manufacturing gaps, while also addressing the significant challenges the industry must address globally such as greenhouse gas emissions, modern slavery and plastics.”

The position it’s in now is assessed as critical.

Where to next?

Threads of Tomorrow identifies four key points of action — all familiar to those who know the industry, but with added weight thanks to the data provided by the report — and the report calls for support and investment in the sector to help scale its recommendations.

Growing a skilled workforce. The lack of skilled workers has been discussed by the industry for years, and the report highlights the shortage of workers, ageing workforce and offshoring of processes. Retaining local capabilities and knowledge alongside upskilling and reskilling workers is vital to the future. “The industry was branded a sunset industry back in the early 2000s and practically all investment in training is now gone,” says Deane. To not only prevent further shrinking but grow the industry again, Mindful Fashion’s report highlights the importance of planning for future needs and developing and promoting career pathways.

Advancing local materials and manufacturing. Improving onshore production and access to materials is, the report stresses, necessary to safeguard the health of local manufacturing. It proposes strategy development, improved funding and access, and harnessing technology to foster efficiencies; Mindful Fashion also recommends that a specific NZFCTI manufacturing strategy be developed. The report’s actions also have a specific emphasis on wool, from enhancing knowledge and skills to grow connections with designers, brands and the wool sector. It’s a regenerative resource intrinsic to New Zealand already, though the sheep ratio is declining (from 22 per person in 1982 to 4.6 in 2023). Deane, who specialises in wool manufacturing, thinks the fibre has huge potential with right innovation and investment.

“New technology, particularly in whole-garment knitting, means labour is a smaller portion of the manufacturing cost compared to the past, which means with the right technology and machinery we can compete on the world stage.” The report highlights the opportunity to be had in growing local knitwear production, harnessing its abundant good properties, incentivising related skills, and adding value in the global market.

Enabling a circular economy. This has been at the crux of Mindful Fashion since its launch, and though the organisation’s scope and ambition have expanded, circularity remains a fundamental priority. “We need circular solutions for textiles in New Zealand to reduce emissions, minimise waste to landfill, and generate new revenue streams,” says FitzGerald. New Zealand sends 52,000 tonnes of clothing to landfills each year, and local textile recycling is limited (though Mindful Fashion has identified six domestic operations). She says textile waste is a massive challenge for New Zealand. “The churn and volume of predominantly low-quality clothing from global fast-fashion brands coming into the country and very quickly being dumped in our landfill is an enormous waste,” she says, but it also holds economic opportunity. “There is a lost opportunity as textiles are a valuable resource that can be reused and recycled. Our industry needs to collaborate on this, and work together to develop workable solutions, and we want to work with the Government to tackle it at a national level.” The report’s recommendations include everything from on-demand manufacturing to take-back schemes and investing in recycling infrastructure.

Promoting New Zealand fashion, clothing and textiles. People need to wear the clothes for the industry to have a purpose, with interest, excitement and support for the local industry from both domestic and international sources. The report proposes increased engagement and access to consumers and markets, and the need to present New Zealand as a creative and innovative country. “We have a great story to tell internationally,” says Deane. “The movement towards slow fashion, sustainable natural fibres and fair and sustainable manufacturing practices is accelerating fast. New Zealand could be in the box seat.”

The report is the first, analysis-focused stage of Mindful Fashion’s two-part strategy. The next will see it focus on implementation.

Armed with the 34-page Threads of Tomorrow, Mindful Fashion has its sights set on the Government, using the report as a tool for engagement and (it hopes) action. “We have invited key staff from government agencies to the report launch and will be following up with meeting requests and we are actively seeking meetings with the relevant ministers,” says FitzGerald. It is calling on the Government to see fashion as an important industry. “We contribute significantly to the New Zealand economy and to jobs; we are saying we’re here, and we want to talk to the government.”

Hogan hopes the Government sees the industry for what it is, she says. “For many years we have fallen through the gaps, and we now have the means to showcase the size of the industry and our contribution. There is so much that needs to be addressed but we cannot do it alone.”

What can you do?

It’s a regular refrain in the world of Viva, to support local and buy what you want to exist, and it’s a privilege in all senses of the word.

“I appreciate that New Zealand-designed and produced clothing can sometimes come with a higher price tag which can be prohibitive,” says Hogan. “We need to remember that when supporting a New Zealand brand, you are not just supporting that business but the many businesses in the background that have helped to bring that product to life. In fashion that is the fabric suppliers, pattern drafters, manufacturers, cutters, finishers, trim suppliers, photographers, models … the list goes on.”

“Fashion and clothing play a crucial role in our identity as individuals but also play a part in who we are as a nation,” says Hogan.

They help us express ourselves, explore both belonging and individuality, and simply go about our lives. It’s something we considered 2023, the mood of the nation, reflecting on what New Zealand style means now.

“Clothing is important, it’s the story we tell about ourselves, all of us, when we get dressed every day, and it’s the story we tell about our country to the world. Our industry creates the clothes New Zealanders wear for work, for leisure, for school, for outdoor pursuits,” FitzGerald says. “We are an important industry, we contribute a significant amount to New Zealanders, in economic value, in jobs, and in the joy and pride that wearing in clothes.”

Emma Gleason is the deputy editor of lifestyle and entertainment. She’s been in media for over 15 years, and worked on Viva for the past four, contributing stories on culture and style — writing about Mindful Fashion’s past work, exploring an exhibition of Aotearoa’s fashion history, sharing advice for making purchases that you won’t regret, explaining how to wash knitwear, and considering the true cost of polyester.

More on fashion in Aotearoa

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