Our Stories
The Impact of Supporting Australian-Made
When you buy Australian-made, you are helping to support a local industry and the people behind it. Over the past few months, we have worked in close collaboration with Australian cotton farmers and manufacturers to produce a reissue of our iconic 90s Heritage Sweat—one that has been knitted, dyed and sewn locally in Melbourne. To explain the importance of supporting local, we spoke to Julian Collins, Sales Manager of ABMT, the apparel and textiles mill where our Australian-made sweat was brought to life.
ABMT began producing knitted fabrics in Melbourne during the early 90s. Over the past three years, it has adopted a Dynamic Supply Model: a centralised supply chain strategy that streamlines all areas of fabric and garment production, that allows businesses to be adaptive and reactive. This model is quick, accurate and agile, and minimises the risk of accumulating excess stock, which can lead to markdowns or wastage.
“By having the fabric and garment production done in Australia, brands are able to centralise resources within a local supply chain, which gives them more control over quality and order quantities. It also allows them to be more reactive, if an item sells out, a brand can put an order in and have a restock completed within a couple of weeks.
This has a chain reaction: consumer demand for Australian-made products, leads to sales, which leads to a need to manufacture more. This creates jobs and has a direct impact on the local industry, from Australian farmers through to manufacturers. The power is really in the consumer.”
The Impact
ABMT went on to become the one of the first certified organic facilities in Australia—pioneering the move towards more conscious practices in the textiles industry, with a focus on natural fibres and a goal to have the lowest environmental impact possible.
“All of our dyeing machines are low liquid ratio dyeing machines, which means they use as little water as possible to dye the fabric. We've also got our own on-site water treatment plant that's constantly getting upgraded with the latest technologies. The water that we don't use gets discharged as commercial greywater and used by third-parties like industrial estates and so forth. We've also put 1,450 solar panels on our roof, which enables us to generate a lot of our own electricity. In addition, we have LED lighting and skylights throughout the whole facility, which means during the summer, we can often run the factory solely on natural sunlight.”
The Flow-on Effect
Supporting local has a flow-on effect that allows for collaborations between industries and people to occur. ABMT partners with Endeavour Foundation: an independent, for-purpose organisation established in 1951. Endeavour Foundation's vision is to support people with intellectual disabilities by providing equal access to education and life-skills learning.
Together with ABMT, Endeavour Foundation was responsible for assembling the swing tags for the 90s Reissue Sweat. Endeavour Foundation Operations Manager, Carlos Aguado, explains the impact:
“We love to partner with Aussie companies and believe it is important to maintain a strong manufacturing capacity here in Australia. Our partnership with ABMT and Country Road has enabled us to provide training and employment opportunities that bring people greater confidence, self-esteem, and wellbeing while earning an income.
This project has been a big talking point for employees who know and appreciate the brand. Some of our employees have taken friends and families into their local Country Road store to show them the tags they have worked on.”
Cindy-Lou Thompson, who is both an Endeavour Foundation employee and a Country Road customer, was one of the many people who worked on the 90s Reissue Sweat Project.
“I enjoyed putting the cards together, and then seeing the final product on the shelves being sold to people, that made me proud—Country Road has some really good stuff.”
At Endeavour Foundation, Cindy-Lou enjoys interacting with other supported employees, friends, and team leaders on a regular basis.
“The thought of having a job and working with people with disabilities, like myself, makes me proud of the work I do at Endeavour Foundation. The fact that we are provided with support and training helps me develop new skills needed at work and at home too. I also have the opportunity to help others and seeing them improve makes me happy.”
From then to now, this sweat remains close to our hearts with every detail thoughtfully designed and made to last, much like the original that was cherished by generations.
We hope you wear it proudly.
