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Textiles and Design

Home > Textiles and Design > Design > Contemporary designer: Lenore Dembski

Design

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Answers for Contemporary designer: Lenore Dembski

Suggested points to consider for activity 1

To gain an understanding of the clothes designed by Lenore Dembski visit her web site. Select Designs of Lenore Dembski. Choose one day and one evening wear garment.
Briefly describe each garment, include information on design features and fabric design.

• Garments feature modern styles suitable for a wide range of women, from teenagers to older ladies.
• Garments include swimwear, casualwear and eveningwear.
• All garments feature fabric designs by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
• A variety of fibres are used including cotton, silk and linen.
• Different methods of surface decoration including batik and screen printing are used.
• Design features include gathering, lacing, panels, use of different fabrics in the same garment.

Answers for activity 2

1. TCF SIP provides incentives in the form of grants to promote investment, innovation and value adding in the Australian Textile industry.
2. Grants for new plant and equipment or buildings, for research and development, including innovative product development are available.

Answers for activity 3

1. Define tariff .
   Tariff: the duties or customs imposed by a government on exports or imports.

2. What are the current tariffs for textile, clothing and footwear?
   TCF products imported into Australia are subject to tariffs applied at the following rates:
   • 25 per cent for clothing and finished textiles
   • 15 per cent for cotton sheeting, fabric, carpet and footwear
   • 10 per cent for sleeping bags, table linen and footwear parts.
      
3. How will these tariffs change after 2005?

   Legislation has been passed to reduce these tariffs from January 2005. Items at 25 per cent will fall to 17.5 per cent, those at 15 per cent to 10 per cent and those at 10 per cent to 7.5 per cent.

   These changes will represent a continuation of the reductions in assistance for the sector that commenced during the 1980s. Nonetheless, even after the 2005 tariff reductions, the TCF sector will continue to receive a level of tariff assistance above that afforded general manufacturing activity.

4. What measures have been put in place to help the industry adjust to the new tariffs?

   The tariff pause until 2005 is intended to give the TCF sector time to adjust to lower assistance. In addition, the sector benefits from a range of other assistance measures implemented as part of the Government's post 2000 assistance package, including the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Strategic Investment Program (SIP) and the Expanded Overseas Assembly Provisions Scheme (EOAP).

   The SIP is by far the most important of these other measures. It provides funding to assist TCF firms to restructure and achieve efficiency gains prior to the 2005 tariff reductions when the current program will cease. The program is open to all entities undertaking TCF manufacturing and/or design activities in Australia, with assistance provided through grants for:

   • new plant and equipment or buildings (up to 20 per cent of eligible expenditure)
   • research and development, including product development (up to 45 per cent of eligible expenditure)
   • increased value added that has occurred following investment or innovation activity (up to 5 per cent of the TCF value added by the entity in Australia in the year of the claim)
   • the purchase of second-hand plant and equipment for restructuring in TCF dependent communities (up to 20 per cent of eligible expenditure)
   • ancillary activities relating to restructuring initiatives in TCF dependent communities (up to 20 per cent of eligible expenditure).

Answers to activity 4

1. What is TradeStart?

   TradeStart is a national network of export assistance offices in partnership between Austrade and a range of local private and public sector organisations throughout Australia. TradeStart is an integral part of Austrade's domestic network.

2. How could TradeStart improve the business of Lenore Dembski?

   Austrade and TradeStart offer a package of free services designed to assist small and medium-sized Australian companies develop their business overseas and make their first export sale.

   The program gives Australian businesses the best possible start to exporting, by providing a wide range of free services to new exporters including advice and information about getting into exporting, export coaching and assistance on the ground in foreign markets.

   Support for potential exporters is available through Austrade and its TradeStart partner organisations throughout Australia and Austrade's overseas network.

Lenore Dembski Paperbark Woman

Products and services
Clothing featuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander textiles and artwork in men's, women's and children's clothing which are suitable for resort, day and evening wear as well as gala events.
Labels include Lenore Dembski Paperbark Woman, Paperbark Woman, OakMan and Aunty Lenore. Manchester featuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander textiles and artwork.

Our company message
Order quantities can be varied to suit small boutiques or large department store chains and because of the availability of the many different fabrics, buyers have the opportunity to acquire items that specially suit their enterprise and clientele.

Some clothing designs are produced in limited numbers to suit the gala, specialist market.

Most clothing items feature Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander textiles and artwork, however, other hand produced textiles are available as well as commercially produced fabrics. Lenore Dembski is an Aboriginal Australian and her business is Aboriginal owned and operated.

 

Answers for activity 6

1. Define innovation .
   There a some quite complex definitions of what innovation is but essentially in business it's about doing things differently and making different things so that your business is more efficient, competitive and able to grow.

2. Outline some of the innovative changes that have occurred in the textile industry since the 1950s.

   Development of synthetic fibres, intelligent and smart fibres used for medical applications and sports clothing. Customised clothing is now being developed to fit your body measurements.

Answer for activity 7

Using the following web sites outline how Lenore Dembski developed expertise to design clothing and run a successful business:
http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/hsc/paperbark/lenore.htm
http://www.paperbarkwoman.com.au/paperbark/lenore.html

Lenore Dembski was born in Darwin, and with the exception of about four years in the early eighties, has lived there all her life. Lenore is Aboriginal.

In the beginning, Lenore was taught to sew by her mother when she was about eight. To start with, she made doll clothes and costumes for plays put on by her sisters and friends. She began sewing for herself and her brother and sisters by the time she was twelve and started designing, drafting and sewing clothes for other people by the time she was thirteen. Lenore learnt some formal skills in sewing when she did Sewing during 1st year at Darwin High School. Between 15 and 18, Lenore modelled in a number of fashion parades and worked on weekends and school holidays for Woolworths selling all forms of clothing, materials and haberdashery.

By her mid teens, Lenore knew how to do knitting, crocheting, tatting, beadwork, tapestry, batik, tie dye, macrame, applique, patchwork and various other art and craft activities. When she was nineteen, Lenore purchased her first (and current) sewing machine; an Elna SU and a Contesser overlocker. Lenore attended a number of short courses put on by Elna in: applique and machine embroidery, men's wear, swim wear, lingerie, and stretch materials. In Adelaide in 1982, Lenore did a twelve-hour course in drafting to learn formal techniques in drafting.

Lenore formally started her sewing business in 1979 when she moved to Adelaide. She manufactured children's clothes, women's sports wear, lingerie, and curtains for several outlets, did bridal and after five wear for individuals and costumes for concerts. On returning to Darwin in 1984, Lenore sewed on a casual basis for family and friends and did a small amount of children's wear for several outlets.

In 1996, to coincide with the Aboriginal Development Unit's project to help promote Aboriginal fabrics to designers and the general public, Lenore started to actively produce resort wear, and evening and glamour wear using Aboriginal fabrics.