The $28B industry pivot with Elizabeth Anderson-Funnell
Fashion has always been about more than the runway. Now communications and storytelling are now flipping the script on a $28 billion industry that’s worth more to Australians than beer. From cultural spectacle to a driver of sustainability and innovation, discover how connecting brand, policy and purpose is reshaping consumer expectations - and why marketers should be paying attention.
Fashion as bellwether
“Everybody wears clothes,” said Elizabeth Anderson-Funnell, Head of Policy and Communications at the Australian Fashion Council (AFC). Fashion has always been about more than the ‘fits. From Elizabethan ruffles to hijab protests, it’s been a battleground for identity and autonomy. “Fashion is a way to express your identity and who you are,” said Elizabeth. “It’s not necessarily a rational decision - it’s very much driven by emotion.” For marketers, that emotional truth is important. It explains why campaigns built on cultural relevance outperform those focused solely on product. But it also signals risk: sustainability isn’t a trend, it’s a consumer expectation. “Greater Sydney is going to be running out of landfill by 2030,” Elizabeth said. Australians bought 56 new items of clothing per person last year. “It’s not even fast fashion, it’s just fashion in general.”
Taking back the stage
In 2025, the AFC reclaimed Australian Fashion Week after two decades of global ownership. “It is a huge trade moment for the Australian fashion industry,” said Elizabeth. “It’s an opportunity to bring over global buyers, global media… and it’s showcasing Australia.” The takeover was fast - 99 days from decision to delivery - and felt more like a startup sprint than a legacy event. In essence, it was closer to a brand reset than an event. “We had to create everything from scratch,” Elizabeth said. Fashion Week is now a purpose-driven platform designed to elevate Australian fashion globally while embedding sustainability and circularity into its DNA.
Designing for trust
Elizabeth’s approach to communications reframes trust as a competitive advantage. “Trust needs to be your moat,” she said. Her inspiration? Attachment theory. “If you’re unpredictable or unreliable, you create anxious attachment. We need to rethink the way we design for trust so that it’s an operating rhythm.” For marketing leaders, that means trust goes way beyond tagline and into infrastructure. It’s built through consistent messaging, face-to-face engagement and internal alignment. “Comms is the last point in which you communicate the trust you’ve pre-built,” said Elizabeth.
Connecting brand, policy and purpose
Advocacy in fashion is complex. “We’re not just talking to one minister,” said Elizabeth. “We’re talking about women’s economic participation, manufacturing, agriculture, creativity in the arts.” The Council’s modelling suggests that aligning these priorities could grow the industry from $28 billion to $38 billion by 2032. For marketers, the takeaway is the strategic integration of narrative and policy to create market advantage. Elizabeth frames trust as a differentiator. “Trust needs to be your moat,” she said. In practice, that means designing communications as infrastructure and building a brand that signals consistency, purpose and value across every touchpoint, from government advocacy to global runways. Fashion’s transformation shows how storytelling can move beyond awareness to influence systems. When brand, policy and purpose align, the result isn’t just cultural relevance: it’s economic growth and a platform for innovation.
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This episode of The CMO Show was brought to you by host Mark Jones, producers Kate Zadel and Kirsten Bables and audio engineers Ed Cheng and Daniel Marr. This is an edited excerpt of the podcast transcript.
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Mark Jones
There's an old saying that you can't please everyone all of the time. But what if there was a way to please most people most of the time?
Hello, and thanks for joining me on the CMO Show Podcast. My name is Mark Jones. It's great to have you with us. This show is brought to you by Impact Institute in partnership with Adobe. Now, my guest today is from the Australian Fashion Council. Her name is Liz Anderson-Funnell, and she's head of communications and advocacy.
This is an interesting story about how an organisation, in this case, an industry body, has its head around an entire ecosystem. Now, if you're not aware, in Australia, the fashion and textiles sector is about $28 billion worth of economic value to the country, which is around 1-1/2% of GDP. So a significant player. What's interesting is that it's an entire supply chain from farm to retail shop, if you like, designers and creatives and producers.
And this is a member body that needs to understand all of the people in that ecosystem to be able to present it with one voice, to be able to tell this clear compelling story. So I had a lot of questions for Liz about how she does what she does, and what we could learn from her story.
Mark Jones
Liz, thanks for joining me.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Thank you for having me.
Mark Jones
Tell me about a moment or moments in your career that have led you to this moment in time at the Australian Fashion Council.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
That's a great question. I don't think that there's one specific moment. I think there have been a heap of just incredible times, I think, throughout my career where I've landed on opportunities or created opportunities, worked with some amazing people that have brought me to where I am now.
I think landing at the AFC really was through connections that I had made, which I think are incredibly important. I think that you obviously learn amazing things throughout your career and through that, the connections that you do come across. So I did know our CEO, who gave me a call and said, "Can you come and help us do X-Y-Z?"
Mark Jones
That always helps.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Always helps. But I had worked with her for many, many years during my time at The Iconic. We did some incredible stuff there, and that did open up the door to start working at the AFC. But I think other than that, it was just all of the culmination of all the amazing things that I've worked on.
Mark Jones
And just briefly, head of policy and comms, what does that entail?
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Yeah, so the fashion industry, just to give you a little bit of context maybe first, is a huge industry in Australia. It's worth almost $28 billion to the economy, and employs nearly 500,000 Australians. The exports are actually more than wine and beer combined, so 7.2 billion.
So the role of policy and comms is really about creating one voice: one voice that we can speak to about the industry, to government industry, and media obviously, and then wider consumers. So that's really my focus.
Mark Jones
I also was doing a bit of research as well, because the fashion industry is not something I've spent a lot of time studying, to be honest with you.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
No, no, that's okay. We'll forgive you.
Mark Jones
Thank you. I did note that 77% of women-
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Yes.
Mark Jones
... that's a very high-
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Huge.
Mark Jones
... that's amazing.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Incredible.
Mark Jones
Obviously it's a great signal in terms of diversity and leadership.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Yes.
Mark Jones
Are there also two sides to that coin in terms of why there are not more blokes working in fashion?
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Yeah, look, I think that firstly, it is an incredible number. Because I think that where we have an industry that is a key driver for women's participation is incredibly important. And it is a big lever for things like economic security, making sure that we can get women into the workforce or back into the workforce, talking about family life or whatever else women have going on in their lives.
Mark Jones
Yes.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
But I think with leadership, I actually do think that leadership across any industry, there's always opportunities to create more roles for women. So I think that our industry has its own, I guess, challenges in that space.
But I think that when it comes to having more men in the industry, I really think that that goes part and parcel with the challenges that the industry has more broadly. Because I think that the fashion industry is seen very much as women's business. And sometimes we actually do forget how big the actual industry is in terms of being an economic driver.
Mark Jones
Yes.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
And I think, again, considering if you put Australian fashion up against the likes of, let's say Paris or in France, and how the industry is perceived over there, it's very cultural when you start to actually drill it down. And I think that that has a lot to do with, I guess, Australia. Sometimes we can be a little bit blokey-bloke. "Oh, it's about steel, it's about mining, it's about minerals."
And I think that that also drives a lot of the challenges that does come along with the advocacy and having, I guess, the broader stakeholder mix really recognise the size and scale and power that it does hold.
Mark Jones
It's interesting too, because fashion is quite evocative. And we think a lot about it in terms of how it makes us feel.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Yep.
Mark Jones
We get upset about fashion, particularly when it comes to teenagers.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Yes. Yes.
Mark Jones
But what's interesting through the lens of the council is that it's started to really take hold, it seems to me, of its narrative.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Oh.
Mark Jones
So we've seen a shift going on, and I'd love you to elaborate-
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Yeah.
Mark Jones
... which is the idea that fashion is style, through to more of a sustainability and a circular economy style way of thinking.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Yes.
Mark Jones
Is that part of what you're doing? And give us some context as to why that's so important.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Yeah, for sure. Look, I think that first and foremost, everybody wears clothes. I think that that's the-
Mark Jones
Thankfully.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
... thankfully, depending on what you're talking about. But yeah, look, I think that fashion is always a way to express your identity and who you are. And I think that that comes in so many incredible formats. And I think that that really is the special thing about fashion, is it really is an art form in so many ways. Because it can be as simple as what you're wearing on an everyday basis, to that feeling of purchasing something for a moment that's happening in your life that is ... It's very much why when we think about what we buy, it's not necessarily a rational decision. It's very much driven by an emotional decision.
Mark Jones
Yep.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
I mean, that's an entirely different segue topic that I'm very passionate about and very interested in. But I think when it comes to sustainability, the reality is that there's a very stark reality when it comes to, I guess the side of fashion where-
Mark Jones
Well, the impact of it.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
... the impact, it's massive. And Greater Sydney is going to be running out of landfill by 2030, for example, and Australia is the biggest consumers of new products and new fashion. I think last year alone, we bought 56 new items of fashion, and we actually-
Mark Jones
Per person?
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Per person, yeah.
Mark Jones
This is the fast fashion story, isn't it?
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Well, it's not even fast fashion, it's just fashion in general.
Mark Jones
Yeah. Okay.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
But also is fast fashion as well. And I think that it's a very complex topic that needs to be unpacked.
Mark Jones
Yep. Yep.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
But when it comes to sustainability and sustainable practises, I mean, it's something that it is inherent and it needs to be infrastructure, because we all wear clothes. Going back to my first point, we all wear clothes.
Mark Jones
Yep.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
That is a reality. But what we need to embed is our environmental and social impact to make sure that we as humans are being as responsible as possible when it comes to those clothes that we're wearing.
Mark Jones
This is a bit random, but I just put my garbage bins out last night. Maybe we had another one for our fashions.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Well, this is the thing, I think textile recycling is also a really complex-
Mark Jones
Yeah. And also controversial.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Well, controversial in that... Well, it shouldn't be controversial because I think that textile recycling, as a technology and an infrastructure, is quite difficult in itself because that's when you're talking about all of the different fibres in which you are able to recycle. So you talk about natural fibres versus things like polyester and all of your man-made fibres, and that all accounts for its own ways in which it can be recycled. But I think as well, we have this idea that we can just donate and it will be fine. And we have all of our secondhand places and look, circularity and secondhand selling, which is another topic in itself, is doing amazing things. But then we have people who are just throwing out broken garments, things that they wouldn't give to their friends. That's how you should really analyse whether you should give something to a clothing donation. Would you actually give this product to a friend? And if you wouldn't, you really need to consider what the end of life of that product actually is.
Mark Jones
Yeah. Well, I guess the reference, I was thinking of people who do recycle clothes or try to. There was some story a little while ago of them being sent to a country in Africa where they were just put into a landfill. So you spend all this time and effort and then it ends up getting dumped anyway.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Well, that's exactly right. And I think that, again, that's the greatest challenge. And that's where we actually do, from a council perspective, we're having this unified voice to tell a story about the future of the industry or create a future vision for the industry, but in a way that is actionable now.
Mark Jones
Yeah.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Because we really do need a collective coordinated effort to be able to drive this change because it is a very stark reality that we're looking at and we actually need to work together, both as consumers, but also as industry and government, to actually shift the needle forward.
Mark Jones
So that's a big one. If we switch now to talk about Fashion Week, which is the very shiny side of what's going on, there's an interesting story too I wanted to understand here, which is the Australian Fashion Council reclaiming that.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Yes.
Mark Jones
Now, what's the backstory? Is there a bit of drama here or what?
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Look, there's no drama. I think that, again, that's such a cliche of the fashion industry, that there's drama behind it.
Mark Jones
I know. Forgive me. Forgive me, I've seen too many movies I think.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
I know. Was it like The Devil Wears Prada? No.
Mark Jones
Yes, correct.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
No, look, the incumbent made a decision that they were going to exit the market fully from their events, and of which Australian Fashion Week was one of those. And they had been operating Australian Fashion Week in Australia for the past 20 years. And it is a huge trade moment for the Australian fashion industry. It's an opportunity to bring over global buyers, global media, and it's not just showcasing Australian fashion, it's showcasing Australia. It's a tourism opportunity. It's a huge opportunity to be showing off everything that is incredible about Australian culture, Australian fashion, Australian arts. And for us at the Council, that was an opportunity that we weren't willing to give up.
So it was actually such a huge moment because we stepped in, we rallied the industry in such a short amount of time. I think it was over a weekend, it was absolutely incredible. And we ended up getting the support that we needed, and it was delivered within 99 days.
Mark Jones
Amazing.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
And I will say that that was taken on, it was almost run in a startup sense because we had to create everything from scratch. Nothing was handed over. So to be able to deliver it on that scale in the time that we had was just an absolute testament to the people who were able to bring it together because it was absolutely phenomenal. And I think that now, next year, 2026 is going to be the 30th year of Australian Fashion Week. And I think it's a new platform that's back in the hands of industry created for industry.
Mark Jones
I think for people who are not in the fashion and textiles industry, they wouldn't appreciate the economic ecosystem you just described.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Yeah.
Mark Jones
Because all we do is see crazy designs on the catwalk on TV. That's the kind of cliche, right?
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Yeah, absolutely.
Mark Jones
And fair enough, that's the point, to get attention and all the rest of it. But I'm interested in from a brand and a storytelling point of view, how you're thinking about bringing all these threads together with that as one of the pillars of your work every year. So you've got a couple of different stories. You've got the industry, you've got the circularity and the sustainability, you've got the basic economic drivers. All of your members will be quite keen to make as much money as they can. You've obviously got to support that you need. There's all the government relations. There's a lot going on. So I'm interested to understand from your perspective, probably through the advocacy lens, it's like how do you approach that? Give us a mind map of how you think about it and how you try and look after everybody. Can you please everybody all the time?
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Well, gosh, that's the million dollar question, isn't it?
Mark Jones
Yeah, yeah.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
I don't know if you can please everybody at the same time. But again, I think that that's the beauty of Fashion Week coming back into the hands of the Council because now we have the opportunity to actually connect and coordinate all of those factors. Because I think that when you actually imagine all of those elements coming together, they all feed into each other. So when we actually think of the fashion industry more broadly, and again from an advocacy perspective, it's not like we're just talking to one minister about one portfolio. We're talking across several of them. Because we're talking about women, women's economic participation. We're talking about manufacturing and what it means to bring key capability back to Australia. We're talking about agriculture and farming. We're talking about creativity in the arts.
So for us to now actually be, I guess the steward of that entire industry, and then to put that on a platform like Fashion Week where we are driving that both locally, but then having that global visibility, I think is actually going to create an even far greater opportunity for us to be able to coordinate that and then strengthen it. Because if we actually look at some modelling that the AFC did a couple of years ago, if we actually work towards all of our priorities across our strategic pillars, we can actually grow the industry from 28 billion to 38 billion by 2032. And that's an incredible way to be able to look at the opportunity ahead and then look at all the steps of what we need to do to be able to actually achieve that.
Mark Jones
How do you think about the themes and the, I'm going to say editorial agenda, but it's more like a campaign agenda for Fashion Week, to sort of stay with that for a minute? And the parallel in my mind is, in brand and marketing, we think about a campaign pillar or a strategic narrative that we want to drive through the whole thing. Has there been a lot of talk about how you might use this platform to push particular ideas that are of benefit to the members? And I guess the extension of thought here is obviously keen to learn, how do you get the message out there?
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Of course, of course. And our members, we are a member-based organisation, so they are at the forefront of everything that we do. So it is a balance in terms of making sure that everything that the Australian Fashion Council is doing is really on behalf of those members and really making sure that their voices and their needs and their priorities are also heard. But then at the same time, we also need to act on behalf of the broader industry, which is where that Australian Fashion Week sort of entity would come into it, because that's where we actually need to elevate Australia's fashion identity on that global stage.
So it is a balancing act, but what is, again, coming back to the fact that we do now have this incredible platform back in the hands of industry, is that we are able to pull those key levers and drivers and tell those stories that create the entire ecosystem of the fashion industry, because they don't work without each other. So that is actually what's really amazing about it, is that we can create this one coordinated effort and one coordinated voice that is able to then actually drive it.
Mark Jones
Do you have a comms platform or a theme that you're pushing for next year, and how do you do that within the team itself?
Liz Anderson-Funnell
I tell you, you're asking me the hard questions about things I'm definitely not going to share-
Mark Jones
It's my second rodeo.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Yeah. No, look, there's a lot under wraps at the moment. But once it's all going to be announced, it's in-
Mark Jones
That's the old journo in me.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Imminently, exactly.
Mark Jones
Imminently. What was the last one, just for understanding?
Liz Anderson-Funnell
So it didn't run, I mean-
Mark Jones
Didn't have a theme.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
It didn't have a theme as such, but I mean, it's about Australian fashion and I think that there is so much incredible creativity that comes out of that in general, and I think that that's what's amazing about having all of the designers. I think there was 28 designers that we showcased this year and all of them have their own stories to tell. So we're really the vehicle for all of the designers to be telling their own stories, right?
Mark Jones
Yeah.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Because they all have their own individuality when it comes to their interpretation of Australian fashion. So I think that we are the vehicle in which they can tell all of their incredible stories, which is, again, the most amazing thing about it.
Mark Jones
And good luck giving them all an equal platform, I think.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Oh, well, absolutely.
Mark Jones
Minor moment of stress. They're thinking, how do you, again, keep everyone happy?
Liz Anderson-Funnell
No, it's definitely something, the energy that was on the ground this year was absolutely palpable. I think that the feedback that we did receive was there was just this energy of everybody felt happy. Everyone just felt really, there was just a camaraderie about it that felt, I don't know, just amazing.
Mark Jones
Yeah.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
It was really amazing.
Mark Jones
Tell me about, again, stakeholder management. I'm interested in brand trust as an idea.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Yes.
Mark Jones
Because we talk about that a lot on The CMO Show.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Yes.
Mark Jones
It seems to me, without having done lots of research, that it's a trusted brand by your members. How do you maintain and build that?
Liz Anderson-Funnell
So I think trust and how I think about trust personally and also just in everything that I do is that it really needs to be your moat. A lot of the time people will talk about their moats as their business mindset.
Mark Jones
Like a defensive moat?
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Well, not a defensive, but even just, well, what's their differentiator? What's going to make people come to them? But I think that now, you really have to have trust as that, at the forefront of everything that you do. And I think that when it comes to creating that trust or building upon that trust, again, as a member based organisation, we need to make sure that we're delivering value for all of our members because they're putting their trust and their money towards us to be able to say, "I want to work with an association or an industry council like the Australian Fashion Council to help us move our priorities forward in terms of our own business priorities, but also how, help the actual industry itself drive forward."
That's a big responsibility to take on. And I think that you need to really consider about that in the same way that even if you're in a B2B scenario or a B2C situation, you have to deliver value for your members, for your customers, for whoever. And again, that comes part and parcel with acting in an industry sense. We actually have to then create that value not by delivering to what they're asking for, but also delivering on what they're not asking for. We need to be working once that-
Mark Jones
Do you mean creating opportunities or?
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Creating opportunities that they might not know are there for them just yet.
Mark Jones
Yes.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
So it's almost like we have to be acting as that first line where we're sourcing opportunities for them to take to them and then understand, is this something that you do want to be acting on? Do you want us to follow down this idea or this path or this grant opportunity or wherever, so then they can actually then feed that into their priorities as well and continue their business path.
Mark Jones
What's your approach to being strategic in communications? And the reason I ask is I used to be on the board, volunteered on the board of professional speakers Australia for three years so I know what it's like to be on the board of a member association.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Yes.
Mark Jones
And I don't know that most, most people wouldn't realise that there's a lot of communication to members that goes on. One of your main jobs is actually maintaining.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Yes.
Mark Jones
All of this traffic.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Absolutely.
Mark Jones
In a healthy way. So you actually need a framework to think about how do we communicate, what do we say when, why, and how. How do we do that sustainably? And if you can handle this massive two part question, how do you do that in a way that if you think about it from a customer point of view? We talk about customer experience a lot. We talk about how there's an expectation we have from all of our consumer lives that we want people to be instant, to be responsive, to be human. There's a whole lot of expectations that we layer into communications. So just hearing you speak, I got this sense you may have a philosophy or an approach that you bring to this that's worked well for you in the past?
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Yeah, I have. And I think that it's two part because within comms, you're always wanting to do more.
Mark Jones
Yes.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
I think in anything, right? You're always wanting to do more.
Mark Jones
Have I done enough?
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Have I done enough? Exactly. We, as an industry association, your team as big as it is, and I think that what's really key for us is making sure that we can communicate with consistency and with value, as I said. Yeah, but also what are those face-to-face opportunities as well. We're a national organisation. We are based in Sydney so it's really important for us to understand and act on a cadence that is going to ensure that we do get that face to face time and also ensure that the industry feels like that they're being involved across our different programmes, across different education offerings that we provide, and of course being kept up with industry news and everything else that we've got going on. It is a framework as such, as all comms professionals will enact on, but I think that the way that I like to approach comms as well and building that trust is very much in this idea of, and I feel like I'm going to take a tangent here, but I think about it in the way of attachment. So if you've ever thought of-
Mark Jones
Attachment theory?
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Attachment theory.
Mark Jones
Let's go, come on.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Yeah.
Mark Jones
Yeah?
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Obviously, with attachment theory, it's about how a child will attach to its caregiver and whether it has those consistent signals of safety and reliability will create trust.
Mark Jones
Yes.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
You could create anxious attachment through being unpredictable, unreliable, all those reasons in which a child may then over search for that consistency from their caregiver and then of course.
Mark Jones
Validation.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
And the validation, then of course we've got the avoidant attachment as well, which is basically assuming that you're going to get nothing, so therefore I will not, I will avoid you completely.
Mark Jones
Yeah, got it.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
I think that if you actually start to apply that lens to communication, it's actually a really relevant way to be thinking about how to create trust today, because we are in a world where essentially the internet has created anxious attachment, right? We have signals coming at us from every which way.
Mark Jones
It's true.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
We don't know who to believe. Our trust in Australia we know is at an all-time low for institutions of every kind.
Mark Jones
Yep.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
So I think that if you start to think about trust through that lens, it actually makes a much more sense to approach it in almost like a human centred design where you're designing for trust in a way that connects with people on a much more human level as opposed to being an authority as such.
Mark Jones
Is that a vote for consistency or not being a helicopter parent, so to speak?
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Well, gee, I mean, I've got two kids myself, so I don't know. No, I'm definitely not a helicopter parent.
Mark Jones
Yeah, I didn't want to get, accidentally fell into the parenting trap.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
No.
Mark Jones
I got four kids myself, but I just mean in terms of that attachment idea about how you create stability, consistency, there's a sense of we're always here, there's regular meetings, all that kind of stuff.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
It is, but it's not just through comms. It's not just through comms. You really have to have it anchored to your infrastructure and everything that you do. And I think that that ladders through to your weekly whip and how everybody in the team is working in a really seamless way because that then ladders up to everything else in your playbook, right, of how you're then delivering on your strategy, your programmes, your events, everything that you've got coming on. And comms is the last part really.
Mark Jones
Yes.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Right? so we think about building trust through comms, yet it is the last point in which you then communicate the trust in which you have pre-built. And that's why I think that we need to rethink the way we actually design for it so that it is an operating rhythm and it is infrastructure beyond just what you're communicating externally. And you do need to make sure that how you communicate internally and externally, I mean it sounds 101, but you would be so surprised at how much there is disconnect between everything that goes on. So yes.
Mark Jones
Yeah, no, there's a really important distinction between strategy, values, leadership, and then delivery.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Mm-hmm. Absolutely. Absolutely.
Mark Jones
You've got to keep those things well, connected, but separate.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Totally.
Mark Jones
Amazing. Well, when you think about the work that you've done and some of the stories that you've shared, for anybody, which will be many people not inside the fashion industry, what's a lesson or an approach or a philosophy or an idea that really impresses you about fashion that you think anybody could apply in any sector, in any role?
Liz Anderson-Funnell
One thing that I think, I mean, it sounds like an overused word, but it is resilience. This industry is so resilient. They have built it to the size that it is themselves a lot of the time. It is just they have so much grit and determination, and they are so creative. Everybody in this industry is so creative, it's just amazing. And they have so much passion and determination and belief that this industry is as credible, is as incredible as they know it to be.
And I think that that really is our role to help profile that and help tell that story because when you think about resilience, the structural challenges that this industry has faced and yet continues to overcome is absolutely incredible. I think during COVID there was so many challenges that came as part of supply chain disruption to everything to do with retail and what happened with retail during that time. And now we have a situation with the tariffs causing absolute chaos when all of that first happened, and yet this industry keeps moving forward and keeps finding new ways. So I think that a lot of people don't know about the resilience of this industry, but it is strong and it's fantastic.
Mark Jones
Yeah. Just to maybe dig one layer below.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Sure.
Mark Jones
What would you say is the driver, or where do people get the courage and the grit from? What's underlying all of that, do you think?
Liz Anderson-Funnell
To be honest, I think an Australian way. It really is.
Mark Jones
Yeah, it does.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
And it sounds cliche right to say there is a determination within the Australian spirit that really continues to drive people forward in everything that they do. But I do think that that comes from a deep sense of purpose for what they're doing, because Australian fashion is everything from the amazing cotton and wool that we grow, through to the manufacturing, through to the design and the technology and the innovation, through to the creation of these incredible products that are then sold locally and internationally through to retail. So it is an absolutely huge industry. And at every level, everybody feels this sense of purpose of driving what they're doing forward. And I think it's an amazing thing to be a part of.
Mark Jones
Liz, I have learnt a lot today talking to you and hearing your stories. Thank you so much for sharing, I think, some really profound wisdom around comms and strategy and thinking about how to create these economic communities. So wish you all the best.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Thank you.
Mark Jones
Do keep us in the loop on the news. I want to know about what's the story for Australian Fashion Week.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Of course. Of course.
Mark Jones
And yeah, thanks for being my guest.
Liz Anderson-Funnell
Thank you for having me.
Mark Jones
So you might've heard me in the show get very excited about attachment theory. Now that's not just because I'm a parent, but I do like it when we get a chance to talk about the theories and the strategies behind the work that we do. Because I'm a big believer that strategic insights drives a lot of value. And you've got a really great story here about how understanding the way that people interact with a member body delivers value for everyone. Of course, the extension of thought for that is that for a brand, understanding the psychology of your customers is key. You really need to know how they think and feel and behave, what they believe, in order to best communicate with them. So this is a really great example of a person, in this case, Liz, and an entire organisation, thinking through this entire end-to-end value chain from a story and a narrative perspective. Really interesting to learn from. I hope you got a lot out of it as well. So that's it for this episode of The CMO Show. Thanks for joining us and we'll see you next time.