Change Of Tack To Suit The Cloth

The Age

Wednesday September 13, 2006

PAUL EDWARDS

FASHION has been a big part of my life - from a small child, I was always making garments for my dolls, and then as a teenager I made all my own clothes. I was obsessed with fashion, colour and fabrics, so I guess it was natural to end up where I am.

I lived in Sydney until I was 24 and then moved to Melbourne, the best thing I ever did in terms of my career. I landed a job working at a big clothing manufacturer in its production area; this taught me how to manufacture a garment to high standards. I learnt every aspect of pattern-making, manufacture and fabrication in that job, and it has proved invaluable.

I then moved to a young, progressive design company that was in an enormous growth phase and learnt more about the fashion industry. I catapulted; being asked to take over the development and all the buying for an established textile wholesaler in the upper market. I was working with a fabulous team of professionals buying and developing their contemporary textile range.

I travelled extensively throughout Europe, the States and Asia three times each year, researching trends and then putting that research into practice, buying and developing the textile range to on-sell to the Australian designers.

Within this company, we started a design studio with artists who would interpret my ideas into prints. We worked on colour combinations, design ideas and base cloths - an area I love working in.

This was a great opportunity to fine-skill my knowledge of the best fashion capitals and to develop relationships with the most creative mills in the world. It also taught me to recognise what the market is wanting in terms of colour and fabrics - Australia can be quite different, due to our light and lifestyle.

Unfortunately, this business was sold and the new owners changed management and direction, a big disappointment, as our product was performing well in the marketplace. I had a two-year stint at another textile company - not very progressive - then I was encouraged by a customer to start my own company and specialise in things the market couldn't find in this country.

I started out really small, supplementing my salary by teaching fashion at a small college at night and working very hard during the day. I was extremely scared but very motivated and, thankfully, it started to pay off. I worked out of my small house with an even smaller garage. Huge delivery trucks used to pull up and ask for the loading area - I'd point to the driveway.

In my second year I employed my first staff member and we moved into small premises in Richmond. These were exciting years of growth and learning. My goal was to provide a specialised service to manufacturers, bringing the best-quality textiles at reasonable prices.

Today, 14 years on, we have a three-level building in a better part of Richmond and have found the best suppliers from Europe. We want to maintain our niche market and be known for having the best.

I still travel three or four times each year to Paris, Milan, Florence, Belgium and Hong Kong and spend a lot of time researching design, colour and textile trends, working with companies selling to global top-end manufacturers. Our own customers now include manufacturers in New Zealand.

Our philosophy in Galleria Tessuti is to provide the best quality for a fair price and offer good service. I firmly believe those good relationships are what keep them coming back; one must know and understand the industry and consumer completely.

Research is essential to know where to push the boundaries for the following season; I like to see what is in store now, what is selling, and what is ending up on the sale racks and why.

I also spend a lot of time researching what is being shown on the runways in Europe for the following season and figure out how these can be translated to suit our market here. It's not an easy industry and to be successful you must put in the hard yards at the beginning. The rewards should follow if you continue to provide friendly, prompt service.

We are constantly told we are expensive in comparison to the other wholesalers, but I believe we offer a product the others can't supply. It is silly to compare - in any case, we are not trying to compete; we want to be unique in our industry.

Fashion and design is my life, so even my downtime can be sitting by my pool poring through fashion magazines and reading about inspirational people in the industry or related creative fields. I find as much time as possible to spend with my beautiful friends and family.

Born June 1960

Educated To year 12 Newcastle High and MLC, Sydney, 1977. Fashion design diploma - East Sydney Tech, 1982. Sydney School of Photography, 1983.

Jobs Designing World Series Cricket uniforms for PBL Marketing, 1984. Designing sporting uniforms, supervising production and quality control for Rulikowski (Sydney), 1986. Designing women's wear as a freelance for Lunar Clothing Gold Coast and Renown, 1990. Fabric developer/head buyer for a textile firm 1991-1994. Teaching fashion design Melbourne School of Fashion, 1994-1995. Guest lecturer RMIT, 1996-present. Founded Galleria Tessuti, 1994.

Career high Starting my own business.

Career low Working with and developing a new textile range with a company that was old school and not willing to take risks.

Business heroes Coco Chanel, Rick Eckersley.

Unwinding Spending time at my beach house with friends by the pool in summer, by the fire in winter.