With an export value of over half a billion dollars in 2019, the global market for Australian fashion offers great potential for established and emerging designers. Export Finance Australia can help you make the most of this opportunity and take your brand to the world. They support Australian fashion exporters including those facing disruptions caused by COVID-19.
With an export value of over half a billion dollars in 2019, the global market for Australian fashion offers great potential for established and emerging designers. Export Finance Australia can help you make the most of this opportunity and take your brand to the world. They support Australian fashion exporters including those facing disruptions caused by COVID-19.
WORDS | Export Finance Australia
Iconic label Camilla has a long history in international fashion, with its clothing featured in luxury stores like Harrods and Saks Fifth Avenue, and strong online sales. So, when the business wanted to open two boutiques in the US, they already had a market in place.
To expand their operations overseas, the brand knew they’d need extra finance. However, Australian banks can have a limited appetite to finance overseas capital expenditure. Unable to secure finance from their bank on this expansion, Camilla turned to Export Finance Australia for support.
Export Finance Australia is Australian Government’s export credit agency – helping Australian businesses succeed in the export market. Through a range of loans and guarantees, they provide short and long-term finance solutions to businesses looking to expand overseas.
Charith Amarasinghe is the Fashion Sector Lead and Business Development Director at Export Finance Australia. In recent years, he’s worked closely with industry leaders in Australian fashion.
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““There’s a great deal of potential for Australian brands in the international market” ”
He says that having the right type of finance to support an international growth strategy is crucial for fashion exporters.
This might mean having sufficient cashflow to finance working capital cycles up to six months or having access to longer time finance for capital expenditure required to scale up operations.
In Camilla’s case, Export Finance Australia provided a guarantee to their bank to underwrite the capital for their overseas expansion Today, Camilla’s two new US boutiques are outperforming their most profitable Australian stores. But this is just one small part of the Export Finance fashion story.
Over the past five years, Export Finance Australia has provided over $17m in working capital finance to Australian fashion businesses, supporting around $74m in international export contracts.
Here are some of the other brands they’ve helped:
Australian designer, manufacturer and retailer of high-end women’s clothing, Lee Mathews received a line of credit from Export Finance Australia, to support the brand’s rapidly expanding international wholesale business.
Australian fashion retailer Aje specialises in ready-to-wear clothing, footwear, accessories and statement pieces. To capitalise on steady international growth, the business needed finance to deliver purchase orders for overseas retailers. Export Finance Australia’s Small Business Export Loan helped them to fulfil purchase orders and reach new customers in the USA, UK and Asia.
Threebyone is a denim design and wholesaling business under brands Neuw Denim, Rolla’s Jeans and Abrand Jeans. To help them expand to overseas, Export Finance Australia provided an Export Line of Credit, supporting product development and inventory requirements for their international wholesale orders.
Export Finance Australia also provided a line of credit to SIR the label, a ready-to-wear fashion brand. To take their Australian aesthetic designs to the world, they needed finance to cover the cost of their international sales orders and pay for their production bills. The support from Export Finance Australia enabled the SIR the label to grow at a faster and more secure rate, with the ability to accept and produce more orders.
Export Finance Australia is here to help fashion exporters including those affected by COVID-19. Whether you need finance to meet additional demand from international buyers, or build your presence in the global market, Export Finance Australia could help grow your fashion business.
For more information, download their ebook or call their loan experts on 1800 093 724.
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