It seems the career of politician Fiona Patten has gone full-circle. Fiona has ‘gone through all the designs’ – beginning in landscape design, she moved into industrial design and eventually made a name for herself in fashion design with the label Body Politics. Her high-end boutique was frequented by sex workers and it was through witnessing their working conditions that Fiona was encouraged to establish The Australian Sex Party with her partner Robbie Swan. The party’s platform was based on the re-introduction of civil liberties. With the realisation that the name The Australian Sex Party was only going to attract a certain level of success, an application was lodged in 2017 to change the party’s name to Reason, with a broader policy platform.
Now returning to her fashion roots, Fiona is passionate about securing Melbourne’s place as one of the global leaders in fashion design:
“Fashion currently fits into the creative industries portfolio, but we are punching far above our weight and I think it’s important that we separate our fashion industry and recognise its cultural importance.”
Fiona believes the best way to build the profile of our local fashion industry is to establish an individual portfolio headed up by a Minister for Fashion. Melbourne’s designers are held in high esteem – indeed the fashion school at RMIT is one of the top five in the world.
Although typically viewed as a frivolous field, Fiona is out to show that a focus on fashion has benefits that reach far beyond clothing and looking good on Instagram:
“The fashion industry is also a real innovator, very often any trends that you see in interior design and industrial design have their roots in fashion.”
With the uprise of fast fashion, textiles have become one of the biggest polluters with more than 500,000 tonnes dumped in Australian landfill annually. Recently the Agricultural sector has focused heavily on the farm to plate process; similarly, Fiona envisages that a Minister for Fashion would be responsible for ensuring that fashion remains ethical and environmentally-friendly in all stages of its life cycle:
“We are growing cotton and wool here, meaning there are many opportunities to make, reuse and recycle, and avoid putting the materials into landfill.”
Fiona says many would be surprised to know that one of the industry’s priorities is around reducing environment and waste:
“They want to talk about that stewardship, when their clothes go into the greater community that they don’t end up in landfill…I think it’s a great starting point.”
While a novel idea in Australia, Fiona is quick to point out that global fashion leaders Paris and Milan both have fashion ministries our country can look to for a template, and if Australia is to remain competitive, the Government must institute a fashion portfolio:
“The government in France has just become involved in the recycling of clothing; they have seen that they have a role to play in ensuring the industry is prosperous. We are also seen as a fashion capital, yet we’re not investing in it in the same way.”
With first-hand experience running a small business, Fiona understands the struggles associated with expanding from a sole trader up to a small to medium business, and the importance of employing local people:
“While fast fashion might employ some shop assistants in retail it doesn’t employ anyone at the back end, no one in manufacturing or design. The industry employs thousands and thousands of people and we could do that better…too much is done off-shore and we’re buying it off-shore. We should be proud and celebrate this part of our culture and economy.”
The fashion industry is a gateway for migrants and refugees to tangibly contribute to the Australian economy:
“Sewing is a skill that people from developing countries quite often have. It enables them to work, express themselves, and become part of our community from an economic and social perspective. It helps to bring about community cohesion.”
In arguing for the implementation of a Minister for Fashion, Fiona encourages people to consider that Australia does have a Minister for Sport and Minister for Music:
“More people travel to Melbourne to buy clothes and to shop, than for sports or for any arts events. We provide incubators and funding and Government attention to so many other industries, (such as the Music industry), and we do it very well – we have invested in it as a taxpayer.”
Should a Ministry of Fashion come to fruition, Fiona suggests the first project should be the development of an industry map across Victoria:
“Let’s look at where we are doing things well, let’s look at where we are locally manufacturing, we’ve already done that with our music and IT industries. Next, we should look at how we enable the industry to not just supply Victoria but also overseas. Let’s look at our procurement. Are we taking advantage and assisting our local industries? Can we change our Government Procurement Policies around supporting our local manufacturing businesses?”
Fiona stresses ‘the power of the people’:
“It sounds twee, but it is about supporting our local industries and buying local. We all should be starting to talk about this, we all should be questioning what we’re wearing, where it comes from and what we’re doing with it when we’ve finished using it.”
She encourages visits to weekend pop-up clothing stores and meeting with local Members:
“The more we take an interest in our local producers and businesses the more governments will take an interest because we are the voters.”
The interview concludes with Fiona visualising her dream future:
“Can you imagine how much it would soften cultural democracy if England Prime Minister Theresa May arrived in Australia wearing an Australian designer?!
