Australian Fashion Chamber and Council of Textile & Fashion to merge

SYDNEY – Australia’s two key fashion industry bodies are joining forces. The three-year-old, designer-focused Australian Fashion Chamber is to merge with the 65-year-old Council of Textile & Fashion, the peak body for Australia’s clothing, textile and footwear industries, it was revealed Wednesday in Sydney. A name change for the proposed merged group is due to be discussed at the respective entities’ annual general meetings at the end of the year, said David Giles-Kaye, executive director of the Council of Textile & Fashion, with the first meeting of the new body slated for early 2018. The Australian Fashion Council could be one of the possibilities for the new name, said Giles-Kaye. The Australian Fashion Council name is owned by the CTF, with one of the AFC’s current board members, Karen Webster, a former chair. The existence of so many fashion organizations has led to some confusion in the Australian media. The new industry body will benefit from having established offices in the country’s two largest cities and a combined membership that spans the entire Australian fashion and textile industry value chain. The Sydney-based AFC currently boasts 90 designer members, while the Melbourne-based CTF has “several hundred” members, according to Giles-Kaye, ranging from textile manufacturers to fashion tech

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