Meet Guy + Lee, owners of a small Melbourne factory we work with to produce BLACK MOON accessories. The company formed in 1983 and since then Guy + Lee have had many highs & lows. They have seen the local industry when it was thriving in the 70's + 80's and they have seen the industry slowly die when the government lifted the Chinese import tax in the 70's. The thing we love most about working with Guy + Lee is their shared passion for the art, and it's a privilege to listen to their wealth of knowledge.  Below are snippets of an interview Amy the founder carried out when she was down in Melbourne earlier this year.  

 

Amy: So how did this journey into the fashion world begin?
Guy: When I was 15 years old I decided to get a job and this is where I began. It was a beautiful industry, 45 companies operating in Australia. It wasn't until the 80's we started to see everyone go to China.
A: Was there a big trade agreement at the time?
Lee: The bosses of all the retailers went together in a lobby group to the government, at the time the Whitlam government (Labour 1972-75) and they successfully lobbied to lift the tariffs on imports. Their excuse was that they couldn't get supplies from the manufacturers (all 45 of them) in Australia, which was a load of rubbish. 
G: I think wages were a big problem for our industry here in Australia, I started on $8 per week, the last 3 years of my apprenticeship I was on $12, then it suddenly increased to $100 - $150 a week. It then became too high for retailers to buy as their profit margin was shattered.... then the imports came in.

 

 

 

A: My dream is that the manufacturing starts to come back to Australia and that we build an industry here again. But I think we have a long way to go in educating the customer to understand the true cost of making locally.  The bags can be perceived as expensive, but in reality they're truly not
L: They're not. Ok, you can buy a cheap import from China. But what about the carbon footprint of the freight, what about the landfill that you can't get rid of and what about the people you have put out of work when you bring these cheap bags in? 

 

 "We've been repairing his bag for him for decades; He bought it when he was 20 and it was gifted to us when he passed away at the age of 78"

 

A: How long do you think a good leather bag lasts for?
L: It can outlast a person
G: We had this guy Frank who died last year, whose wife gave me his leather bag after he passed away.  He had owned it since he was 20 years old
L: And we've been repairing his bag for him all these years.  He brought a quality article all that time ago and was able to keep it going

 

 

 

A: What do you love the most about the job?
G: The creativity! 
L: It satisfies the creative urge, it's a beautiful old trade. I can see beauty in everything Guy does
G: You create things and then you see someone walking with it, or it's in the paper, or in a shop and it's such a buzz
L: You can make money but at the end of the day you can't take it with you when you die, you have got to have something there. The enjoyment of life and creativity- that's what it's all about!