Elizabeth Park was 16 when she found a damaged old wooden hand loom she thought might serve for a high school art project. “I fixed the loom and used it to make my own lace,” she recalls.The qualities already apparent in that enterprising teenager – initiative, a distaste for waste and a love of fine craftsmanship – rapidly flowered. Today, the Scottish-born Melbournian can look back on a formidable international career and is a leading authority in the field likely to dominate 21st century fashion.On February 2, Elizabeth will provide expert advice at Fashion Exposed Now when she presents her seminar, “Sustainability – What your customers want to know!”
“Over the past decade, there has been a worldwide groundswell that has gone way beyond trend. There is a huge rising awareness of the vital importance of sustainability and the need to reduce the impacts of fashion,” says Elizabeth.“The main drivers have been climate change and the need to protect human rights, and those concerns are especially evident among the younger generation. The Millennials now coming out of university are shopping with a conscience.“Youth is showing the way. Just over a year ago, Greta Thunberg was a lonely girl with a placard. Now she’s a world leader in environmental activism.”In November 2019, Elizabeth Park launched her consultancy, Fashion True Futures. Its message to the Australian fashion industry is potent: Real, lasting results - and profitability – can be achieved without harming the planet.Ethical sourcing, environmentally-friendly manufacturing, product safety – Elizabeth’s expertise covers them all and more along with guidelines for maximizing the effectiveness of teams, operations and supply chains.Raised in a tiny Scottish Borders town near Edinburgh – “the area is famous for its weavers” - she lost no time in gaining industry experience after graduating with a BSc (Hons) Apparel and Textiles degree from the Scottish College of Textiles in 1989.For most of the next 12 years she worked as a technical executive for British fashion industry giant, Dewhirst. Three years as fabric and sourcing manager for London-based Monsoon Accessorize followed. By then, the Scottish pro had attracted keen interest in Australia and in 2004, she accepted a post in Melbourne.The Country Road Group, Witchery, Mimco and Trenery – all have benefited from the dynamic Ms Park in areas including strategic planning, sourcing ,and social and ethical compliance.“My career has been a journey across the world,” she says. “It has taught me a lot about sustainable practices and the problems that can crop up in fashion supply chains – for example, workers not being properly paid or buyers not being aware that seemingly compliant factories may be farming out orders to unauthorised sub-contractors.
"I don’t see myself as a campaigner. My role is as a consultant is to help businesses create the changes needed for our planet and its people.”She has a couple of other key roles: mum to her musically gifted 14-year-old daughter and part-time lecturer at Melbourne’s Holmesglen Institute where she teaches professional practice to BA Fashion Design undergraduates.Elizabeth Park’s seminar won’t be her only contribution to Fashion Exposed Now. Adding rich dimensions will be The Sustainable Edit, a designer showcase she is curating for the fair.“It will feature both emerging and established designers who are leading the change in sustainable fashion,“ she reveals. “I thoroughly enjoy working with creative people.”Story by Zelda Cawthorne
Fashion Exposed Now
Elizabeth Park, founder of Fashion True Futures, will present a Free Seminar Session, “Sustainability – What your customers want to know!” on Sunday February 2, 10.30-11.15am at Fashion Exposed Now, Australia’s only dedicated womenswear buying event. Registration is free and includes access local and international labels, seminars and round table sessions to help build your business. Fashion Exposed NowFree, trade-only eventSunday 2 – Monday 3 February 2020Royal Exhibition Building, Melbournefashionexposed.com
The Firefly sneaker, encrusted with 3,100 jewel studs, also has hidden treasures. Namely, the millions of tiny air bubbles injected into its outer sole which along with other podiatry features, provide whole-foot support, cushioning and superior spring - in short, perfect for fitness plus glamour.The just-released Firefly joins three other lightweight metallic knit sneaker styles created by Australian footwear favourite, holster.There will be plenty more to tempt at Fashion Exposed Now, assures Ben Nothling who with designer wife, Natalie Miller, launched the Noosa-based company in 2001 with a range of jelly sandals and espadrilles.Eighteen years on, holster is internationally renowned for its stylish, innovative collections for women and children. And, vital in this endangered age, its solid credentials for sustainability and ethical production.
“Our footwear is 100 per cent vegan and certified by the Vegan Society in the UK,” says Ben. “No harmful chemicals go into its production and we don’t use animal products for materials such as glues.“It’s not just about ethics. The widespread use of toxic chemicals for cheap footwear is tremendously worrying, especially when it comes to children’s footwear, such as jelly shoes. Ours are not only safe, but fully recyclable.”A direct descendant of department store founder David Jones, Ben Nothling has clearly inherited entrepreneurial savvy. At 43, he runs a company that can boast more than 2,000 stockists across the globe and 2019 is shaping up as a bumper year.“Asia is our biggest market,” notes Ben. “We’re especially strong in Thailand - we recently opened our 25th boutique in Bangkok – and we’re stocked by key department stores in the region including Takashimaya, Central, Tangs, Sogo and Isetan.”A recent partnership with Indonesia’s leading retailer, MAP, which has some 2,200 stores, will substantially boost the holster brand in Australia’s closest Asian neighbour, and a major coup is about to take effect.“From March 20, holster will be available at Jewel, a fabulous new shopping hub inside the international terminals at Singapore’s Changi Airport,” reveals Ben. “It will give us exposure to millions of transiting travellers each year.”Central to holster’s success has been Natalie Miller, born and bred in Noosa. Now in her mid-30s and mother of the couple’s two young children, she is holster’s head designer – a formidable 
talent whose collections simultaneously evoke Australia’s iconic beach culture and a classiness that has universal appeal.Internationally recognised as a premium, yet affordable brand, holster has maintained its edge through state of the art technology, as well as its appeal to the fashion-conscious.Its new season bejeweled sandals, slides and flip-flops with their shock absorbent air-foam footbeds – “comparable to gently sinking into soft beach sand, easing pressure from the back and feet” – typify holster’s approach. So does Natalie’s distaste for fussiness and bling.Sandals, slides, thongs, wedges and espadrilles – like the sneakers, all are coolly elegant and for Spring-Summer 2019 feature a refined palette including rose gold, silver, pewter and nickel. They are also a podiatrist’s dream.“Along with our core principles of being sustainable, vegan-friendly and cruelty-free, we put a massive emphasis on health and comfort,” says Ben Nothling.- Zelda Cawthorne