Ellery puts Australian business into liquidation

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Apr 25, 2019

Australian designer Kym Ellery is winding up her Australian business after struggling to cope with high manufacturing costs and the country’s isolation from the international fashion scene.

The womenswear label, one of Australia’s most successful fashion brands, closed its two Sydney stores last week, making 22 staff redundant. Its Sydney-based production facility, Elleryland, has also closed.

According to the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC), Ellery is now in the hands of external administrators. It filed a notice to wind up the company on April 18.

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“I am very proud to have built an independent, globally recognised fashion house from my home, Australia. [But] it has not been without its challenges,” the designer said in a statement released on Tuesday.

“Unfortunately, running the production out of Australia proved to be commercially unsustainable. As a result of some poor strategic decisions that were made, and the high cost of manufacturing in Australia, we have been left with no choice but to close Elleryland, our production facility and Australian operations company.

“I have always championed Australian manufacturing, and this decision was incredibly difficult to make,” she concluded.

According to its website, Ellery produces its ready-to-wear in Australia using fabrics sourced from mills in Italy, South Korea, France and Switzerland, while shoes are made in Italy and leather goods in France.

Other companies within the group, including the trademark and the brand’s Paris-based design company will be unaffected by the Australian closure. In fact, the move means the firm’s operations will be relocated to Europe. It is currently in the process of appointing a new global distributor, which will consolidate production in the region.

Over the past few years, the label has showed its collections during Paris Fashion Week and it is a member of the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode.

Speaking in an interview with the Daily Telegraph in 2017, Kym Ellery said 90% of the brand’s customer base lives outside Australia, and that the opening of the French headquarters were part of a growth strategy.

She launched her brand in 2007 at the age of 23.