Afterpay Co-Founder, Anthony Eisen is keen to make an impact on the Australian fashion industry when it comes to championing sustainability, inclusivity and accessibility. It is, he says, not only an imperative but according to a recent Afterpay report on our fashion Industry, it’s what consumers want.
Three in four Aussies are prepared to pay more for Australian-made clothes but according to the recently released report while they want to purchase sustainable clothing, three in five say that it’s too expensive.
Almost half of Aussies say it’s difficult to find sustainable brands and two-fifths of Aussies suggest that there aren’t enough Australian sustainable brands.
The Carousel asked Afterpay Co-Founder, Anthony Eisen what the fashion industry needs to do to make meaningful change when it comes to inclusivity, accessibility and sustainability. Here is what he shared with us.
As the Principal Partner of Afterpay Australian Fashion Week over the past three years, we’ve been working with established and emerging designers, brands and industry leaders, to champion sustainability, inclusivity and accessibility.
It’s been an honour to partner with like-minded organisations to drive these important messages forward. This year, Afterpay’s reCOUTURE initiative in collaboration with Thread Together highlights a crucial issue within the industry – fashion excess.
The project saw prominent Australian designers, including Genevieve Smart, Bianca Spender and Jordan Gogos, recycle men’s excess business suits by repurposing the materials to bring them to life again as couture runway pieces. By displaying the collection of reCOUTURE designs at AAFW, we hoped to inspire people to reconsider the lifecycle of the clothing they design, manufacture and own.
We also felt it was important to reflect on how the industry has changed since 2020 and what the next era of Australian fashion looks like. As the ‘Australian Fashion’s New Era’ report has revealed, meaningful change in sustainability, inclusivity and accessibility is top of mind for Aussie shoppers.
We found that Aussie shoppers want to purchase sustainable clothing, but three in five say that it’s too expensive and almost half say it’s difficult to find sustainable brands. We also uncovered that more than a quarter believe that Australian brands don’t offer enough in the way of gender-fluid fashion, with one in seven Aussies saying they’re more likely to purchase from brands that offer gender-fluid products.
Those within the fashion industry are adaptive innovators, and the best way to achieve meaningful change is to listen to what people want and be led by them. We hope that these findings into what Aussie shoppers want help to reinvigorate the industry on its journey to becoming more inclusive, accessible and sustainable.
