fashion industry survive the seemingly
shorter seasons?
used to be, and there is more `buy now,
wear now.' True seasonal items such as
coats and knitwear have a shorter sell-
ing period, while swimwear is now in
store for longer - and in select stores
we stock it twelve months of the year.
What we aim to do is ensure the cus-
tomer can buy any day of the year and
wear it immediately."
place.
respond to product categories which
were working, and not take risks. In
businesses such as intimate apparel, we
moved to less risky replenishment pro-
grams, away from high fashion. It has
still been really important to present a
strong fashion story to our customers."
shoes. Biviano has built up the brand
enough to boast a stand-alone store in
Sydney's Strand Arcade, and stocks in
prestigious Little Joe fashion boutiques
around the country, as well as select US
boutiques. Despite her fashion nous,
she is not keen on extending her brand
into accessories.
glasses, and jewellery, but I'm not a
huge bag girl. I love them, sure, but I
could live without them. Shoes keep me
busy enough, anyway."
initial stages of design and production
sounds very glamorous, but was hard
work for Biviano.
need to always be there through the
sampling stage. There are two sides to
that coin; it's great travelling, but it's
also nice to have a life and not have to
travel a lot. It's a better balance now,
I must say. It's astounding how a busi-
ness can change and grow, from the
first year I started out, to seven years
down the track. I think it's definitely
progressed to a much better way of do-
ing business, in every aspect: the qual-
ity of the shoes, customer service, eve-
rything. We've just grown in every way,
and I'm just really proud of what we've
done, really pleased."
manufacturers in Italy, and eagerly
awaits prototypes. At this stage, any
changes are made "because some-
times from a drawing they can get a
different impression from what you re-
ally wanted the shoe to look like". From
here they go through materials and col-
our ways for each style.
than I make it sound," she laughs.
ing TV interviews, and watching over
parades using her glam footwear, all
in the tropical environ on Hamilton Is-
land. But she, alongside virtually every
fashion designer, has weathered the
storm of the global recession.
luxury items are more stable. You can
buy a great pair of luxury shoes for not
a lot of money and get a lot of wear out
of them, so women are preferring to buy
shoes rather than the designer clothes
or big handbags, which are much more
expensive. You can pay $400-$600 and
get a great pair of designer shoes (the
price point of Biviano's shoes) and still
be able to wear them every season,
making it better value for money than
a dress."
fabulous pair of designer shoes." We
hear you.