Australian consumers are choosing quantity over quality, and Teresa Troy, owner of upmarket Melbourne-based fashion chain, Hoss, cannot understand why. “I am disappointed that so many people queue around the corner for such crap product,” says Troy of the growing presence of international fast fashion retailers. “I just can’t understand it. I regret to say that it’s quantity over quality, unfortunately. Hoss hasn’t gone in that direction, we’re staying strong,” she said.
We’re still spending a lot of money on fabric and we’re still wanting to deliver a quality product that’s made in Australia.”
Troy’s Hoss chain began in Melbourne in 1993 with a single store on Fitzroy St in St Kilda. The fashion retailer now has five stores across the city, including Brighton, Hawthorn, South Yarra, and Hawksburn. The fifth Hoss store opened last month in Albert Park.
It also has an online store.
“We have recently moved several stores to locations that we feel will be safer in the future. We wanted to position ourselves in suburbs and on strips that are relatable to our product.
“We’ve settled after changing the chessboard a bit and we’re really happy with where we have opened,” she says.
Eighty per cent of Hoss’ product offering is made up of its housebrand, with the remaining a mixture of high end womenswear labels, including Camilla & Marc, Willow, and Ellery.
Hoss’ own womenswear lines range in price from $100 to $1000.
“It [fashion] has now become a lot about purchases, but not a lot of outlay.
“We’re the opposite. I think our customer would rather spend on one quality product as opposed to 20 throw away fashion pieces.
“Good luck to them if that’s what they’re about, but I can’t stand that myself.
“I believe that pretty much everything we sell will end up disintegrating to dust back into the earth. I’m very conscious of the footprint I leave on the planet, but there are many people out there who don’t care about that.
“It has become about immediate satisfaction. I think we have a responsibility to put the brakes on that a little bit, but I can’t see that happening in the future.”
Two years ago Hoss dropped its menswear line, but Troy says she will look to reintroduce the range in the coming year.
“I am hoping to bring back Hoss menswear within the next 12 months. At the moment we stock 100 per cent womenswear, including footwear and accessories, but we’ve recently had quite a lot of demand for our menswear.
“Unfortunately a lot of our natural product suppliers and manufacturers have closed down. You’re almost forced to go offshore and it takes a while to hunt down local people to work with.
“I don’t want to make my product offshore – I think I am just one of those silly old fashioned people that thinks that way, but it might be to my detriment.”
