“I never fit into clothing that I wanted to wear,” says fashion designer Emily Nolan, “I found the shopping process incredibly tedious.” It was this feeling that prompted her to launch her own line of made-to-measure suits. Almost five years later, her brand, E Nolan, is one of a growing number of Australian fashion labels embracing customised and on-demand production as a novel way of doing business.
Made-to-order and made-to-measure models allow designers to circumvent some of the more challenging aspects of running a fashion brand. They reduce (or in some cases eliminates) excess stock; allow designers to avoid the financial pressure of putting several collections a year into production; and mean they can make clothes for a more diverse range of customers.
