Meet Mikey Nolan Our Australian Creative Call Out panel member on judging duty and Australian fashion style

“Get as much experience across all aspects of the industry as you can early. Don’t just stay in a design bubble. Dive deep into the stuff that you think is boring and get your hands dirty. If you have a 360-degree understanding of the fashion business from the start you’re going to get to a good place a lot quicker.”

“I saw both my younger self and my current self in the competition applicants. I have worked in the industry for a long time - both at ksubi where I worked for 11 years, and my own brand Double Rainbouu that has been going for just over two years. So, from the perspective of running a pretty new brand with a small team and all the joys of a start-up, I could relate to a lot of the designers’ stories. It’s not an easy industry at all and I was really impressed by the passion and drive so many of them had.”

“Australian style like any style is linked in a practical way to geography and, of course, it changes with the seasons. Sydney style shines in summer and it’s about comfortable, light, casual beach-to-street ease. People have a bit of fun contrasting proportions and there’s quite a lot of unisex styles, and playing with mixing dressed-up and casual pieces. Melbournians shine more in winter; they dress and layer up more and they’re a lot more individual in the way they dress. My business partner Toby was recently in Hobart where he noticed they dressed kind of hipster meets extreme hiker. I think style is most interesting when it’s anchored to places like this.”

“I think despite its isolation, there is always strong international interest in things coming from Australia. The key is getting the right mix of a uniquely Australian product that is appealing to the international customers. That’s where I see the opportunity. There are challenges when you are selling to the Southern hemisphere and Northern at the same time, as there are seasonal challenges in your merchandising. If you also happen to sell both men’s and women’s then your calendar of international sales and deliveries can be a slightly hellish matrix to figure out. At the same time, the whole industry is changing the way it sells and delivers at the moment which is freeing things up. It’s exciting.”