With annual fashion festivals featuring so many big name brands, venues, models, influencers & screeching darlings, how do sustainable & ethical brands get a look in? One key way is collaboration, but with small brands and big eco hearts, it's a tough gig to pull off. We asked Claire Goldsworthy from The Fashion Advocate how she managed her amazing independent runway of ethical fashion for Melbourne Fashion Festival at Como Gardens this year and this is what she had to say."COLLABORATIVE EVENTS ARE CRUCIAL FOR SMALL BUSINESSES AND IT’S SOMETHING THAT I VALUE DEEPLY. I RELY ON COLLABORATION MYSELF. I MAY HAVE 20,000 FOLLOWERS ON INSTAGRAM, BUT THE FASHION ADVOCATE IS A VERY SMALL OPERATION BEHIND THE SCENES. I work full time and have two girls in the office; one works two days and the other works three, so collectively we really only have the power and hours of two people to run an entire business that spans a blog, magazine, social media, individual clients, and annual events. During peak periods and major events like VAMFF, I rely on collaboration and the kindness of the community to support our events and help make them happen. IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD, AND THE SAME CAN BE SAID FOR RAISING A RUNWAY FOR A FEW HOURS. For Melbourne Fashion Festival, we had help from the audio visual team, the hair and makeup team, a volunteer florist and the backstage stylists. So many people contributed the entire operation and none of it would have been possible had so many people not worked together. When you’re a small business, it’s important to think outside the box, and when you collaborate with brands and businesses that share your values with a common goal in mind - that’s when the real magic happens. COLLABORATING IS BEING PART OF THE SHARING ECONOMY TOO, AND THAT’S SUPER SUSTAINABLE AND AWESOME TO BE A PART OF. THE TRUE GOODNESS IN PEOPLE COMES OUT WHEN YOU TAKE MONEY OUT OF THE EQUATION.
To be honest, I had to seriously think about it. These things are extremely taxing - mentally, emotionally and physically. I lose about 10kgs every time, just through the stress and craziness of it all. There’s no easy way to manage 15 labels, 100 outfits, 15 staff and 30+ supplier staff. It just is what it is and while we’re an organised well-oiled machine, there’s still a lot of pressure and a lot to do. One of the biggest things is handling the expectations of everyone involved, and making sure their happiness levels are not just met but exceeded. And in the environment of events where anything can go wrong at the drop of a hat, no matter how many Plan Bs or Plan Cs you implement, those expectations are intense.
Trying to achieve perfection for the designers and the supporting partners is very taxing, but when it comes to runways, you have to aim for perfection or people won’t be involved. After the Melbourne 2017 Luna Park show, I cried for weeks and swore I’d never do any other show. The wrong label name showed during one of the collections, and the wrong song played for another, albeit out of my control as a headset malfunctioned and we continued on with no idea, until of course the abuse came after the show. Regardless of whether it was an accident or not, or my doing or not, I’m responsible for every single person on site and every little thing that happens, and you just can’t have those things happens no matter what the reason is. But, after two years away from the runway, I couldn’t wait any longer. I love them. I regrouped myself, planned and re-planned, got over the hurt from things going wrong, and then opened the 2019 show to nearly 400 people and it was a flaming success. Sometimes you need things to go wrong to learn what to do right. THE BIG REASON I DO FASHION FESTIVAL IS THAT AUSTRALIA NEEDS RUNWAYS DEDICATED SOLELY TO ETHICAL AND SUSTAINABLE FASHION. WE HAVE A LOT OF CONSUMERS TO EDUCATE AND PEOPLE LOVE RUNWAYS.
We manage absolutely everything from the back and front of house staff, audio visual, the bars, the alcohol, the ticketing, the fittings, the floor plan, the seating allocation - the lot. It's hard to comprehend the magnitude of it. There’s months of planning, three months full time event management, hundreds of phone calls, thousands of emails, and many sleepless nights, but it’s a beautiful process that brings a lot of passionate people together. The designers make their range and we look after everything else. I get a lot of messages on Instagram from people saying they want to do a runway, and asking for advice on how to do one; but it’s not something you can just do with an idea. I’ve been doing them for ten years now; I used to work backstage on Alex Perry runways and Camilla runways, and I’ve executed 7 runways in one day, managing 40 brands. Every time I do one, I learn something new, or think of a better way to do something; there’s no manual for it. Behind the scenes in the lead up, there’s a lot that goes on, and that bit is very very organised. On the day, it’s like an aerial view of people scrambling in the rain on Burke Street - they all know where they’re going but it’s just a little haphazard ha!
These things are definitely not money makers; models alone were $3900 to put it into perspective. Then there’s audio visual, staff wages, printing and promotional material, theming, seating hire, backstage hire, ticket fees. Right down to buying clipboard and hangers for backstage. The 2019 show was a $23000 production; as in $23000 worth of invoices I paid out, and that did not include a wage for me. There was no wage for me, but when I walked out to open that show and I had an opportunity to tell nearly 400 people that by just being there, they had an incredible impact, that was worth all the money in the world to me. We had Colin and Dasha from The Trendspotter there, Eco Warrior Princess, The Green Hub, among a bunch of ethical and sustainable fashion advocates, and the CEO of VAMFF himself took the time to be there and support the show. Seeing eco-media of that calibre there, and having such high profile people attend - that’s what makes it worth it, because that’s how the message travels. Sometimes you just have to bend over backwards when you care about something; that’s what events are to me. They kill me, but I love every minute of them, and they have such an amazing impact - so they’re worth it.
My advice is just to do it, just collaborate. Once you take the money out of it, you’ll be surprised at how good it feels, and what you can achieve when you put two heads and two hearts together.
I have to apply every year, I don’t get special preference. I know the team well but that’s only because I’ve been doing it for a while, but they still treat me like any other applicant. They’ve welcomed me back onto the program each year, but nothing is ever guaranteed and I don’t take it for granted. I have to work just as hard as everyone else on the independent runway program.