Hello Gorgeous,

Faye and Lauren here. We are the owners, designers, and passionate women behind Motto.

We are often asked “Why aren’t you 100% Australian made?” (like we used to be)

Long story (and too long to post on social media), so grab a cuppa - Here we go…

Motto has been proud, to be an Australian made label since the beginning, back in 1985. And when we say proud, we are strongly emphasizing PROUD

Over the years, the government has changed the rules around manufacturing in this country. The biggest change came 5-6 years ago which forced our workers out of the industry. To cut that story short…they don’t want manufacturing to be part of Australian culture. These laws (in our industry), made things hard (ahemm, impossible) for us to continue.

We, as a company, have always boasted about being one of the last Australian Made medium size retailers, through and through, until the industry fell apart. 

 

“But how did this happen?” we hear you say.

We found our sewers were approaching retirement age, and there were no more people, or young people, that wanted to take up sewing as a career. 

We couldn’t find machine mechanics, when our machines broke down. 

We couldn’t buy zips, threads, and buttons, unless we ordered from china, well in advance and much more.

Costs became so high in the manufacture process, that we were worried (and knew) our customers wouldn’t understand the cost increase.

But we kept trying to keep manufacturing in our beautiful country because that’s who we are.

 

So you ask “Why do you need to manufacture in China?”

We searched for the best option for our company values. If we work with others, they need to fit with who we are through and through. After some time, we found two wonderful companies that are just like us, who live in China.  Yes, 2 family-run businesses that understand what Motto is about.

You may be thinking it’s about buying “cheaper”, but we want the best that we could afford, so the prices became “not cheap” but great value for the garment.  Actually the same garments made in Australia would be at least 2 times the price, or more. We found we were able to buy higher-end fabrics by expanding our resources, and it was (and still is) incredibly exciting!

This became an opportunity for us to re-asses our styling direction due to the machinery, fabrics and accessories available for us to use in designing. We are very proud, to offer you advanced style and versatility - now that everything is at our fingertips.

 

Our range became so much more lux. This became the new Motto. We still manufacture many garments right here in Melbourne because we love our city. But sadly, our beautiful city doesn’t like it.  One day, it will not be here at all. And not because we didn’t try. Thankfully we have a great connection with our suppliers, where work ethics are paramount.

If you are reading this letter, we share your passion. But, the opportunity to continue local manufacturing was taken away from us, and we feel so lucky that we can still have a portion of our range made in Australia (You can actually shop all our Aussie Made products right here)

We always try to encourage customers to perhaps look at this a little differently. We feel that we should be thanking, congratulating, and appreciating those very few companies, who have continued to keep Australian manufacturing alive (when so many jumped ship many many years ago).

 

Thank you for reading, and thank you for supporting us.

 

With Love,

Lauren and Faye Browne

Motto Owners/Designers