The designer behind E Nolan on the problem with exclusive fashion shows
Australian Fashion Week is around the corner but Melbourne-based designer Emily Nolan will be nowhere insight: “I don’t think it speaks to the heart and soul of the rag trade,” she told Inside Retail.
The genesis of Nolan’s eponymous brand E Nolan was her frustration with made-to-measure suiting being almost exclusive to men.
“I wish I could tell you that I started E Nolan because there was a hole in the market – I started because I was frustrated,” Nolan said.
“Why are made-to-measure businesses around for men but not for women, non-binary and trans folk?” This inclusive ethos doesn’t align with the invite-only nature of fashion weeks.
The margins in question
According to Nolan, the true purpose of a fashion show is to inspire but today runways appear to be a branding exercise.
“I don’t know any business that is not in debt that can afford a $20,000 show to invite influencers and magazine editors – who are my consumers of course, but they’re not the lives I’m changing,” explained Nolan.
“If I do a fashion show, it’ll probably be self-run… Do you know who will be in the front row? Supreme Court judges, baristas, heads of hospitals, teachers, new mothers who love and know the brand.”
Nolan also questions the ethics of brands that are setting big budgets for extravagant PR stunts such as fashion weeks and influencer trips when wages for garment workers and others who work behind the scenes in the fashion industry are notoriously low.
“Who has enough greed in their margin to put together a fashion show that is so exclusive?” questioned Nolan.
“I don’t think it’s a good representation of pattern makers, small business owners, founders, head offices – it is a representation of magazine culture.”
While the new playbook of fashion weeks does not align with Nolan’s brand, she hasn’t ruled out an independent fashion show but it would be perfectly tailored to her clientele.
“If I am putting together a show it’s going to be like how Yves Saint Laurant did way back when there weren’t really press at these shows – it was a collection launch for your diehard customers,” said Nolan.
“If it is a branding exercise, you want to do a show or an art exhibition that actually sticks with people after they’ve left.”
The exclusively inclusive
Instead of the perfectly curated runway, Nolan has favoured relaxed events where she welcomes her current and prospective clients to peruse her studio and ready-to-wear collection over drinks.
The intimate nature of opening up her home studio to consumers is representative of how E Nolan functions as a business.
“The distribution of working one-on-one with people and being able to see such localised joy between their first, second and third fitting is very different to designing a collection, putting it up online and hiring retail staff to sell it,” said Nolan.
Nolan refers to her creativity as a “privilege” that she shares with her clients: “I have the luxury of being able to turn that intangible conversation into a tangible garden.”
E Nolan is yet to find a home with a stockist because much like its garments, the founder is determined for the partnership to be the right fit.
“There’s been talks but I don’t want the brand to be sold by people that don’t give a shit,” Nolan stated.
“The price point in which I deliver my product is extremely important because people were ostracised from buying garments that fit them with most stores only stocking to a 12,”
As of this moment, E Nolan’s ready-to-wear garments are stocked up to a size 22 and will soon cater to a size 26.
“That has come from meeting with my clients all day every day and they tell me what they need and I say, ‘Great, let’s fucking do it’,” said E Nolan.
Nolan has found collaboration to be the most effective and authentic strategy for growth and has fallen in love with co-designing alongside independently owned small businesses in Melbourne.
“Literally just yesterday, we launched a shoe collection that I have been working on for two years with John Rizzo,” said Nolan.
“We have a crossover of clients, we have a deep love for craft and we have a shared disgust of how things are currently being made and sold,” Nolan explained.
Nolan’s commitment to her craft and dedication to her clients has meant E Nolan has had to play by its own rules, but it’s a sacrifice she’s willing to make.
“What is missing in retail is magic – magic and connection,” concluded Nolan.
The post The designer behind E Nolan on the problem with exclusive fashion shows appeared first on Inside Retail Australia.