Lisa Leverington’s career as a milliner began in unlikely circumstances.
Having immigrated to Australia from a small town called Xiangtan, in the Hunan province of China at the age of five, Lisa settled down with her mother in Melbourne, going on later in life to study and practice biomedical science.
But in her mid-20s, life took a turn.
“Having finished all that education, I found so much free time after work so it was after my first year of working, that I was just looking for, I guess a little hobby.”
“There was a hat shop down the road that opened, and I did a hat course with them, and I just became obsessed.”
It was that obsession that spurred Lisa on to take additional millinery courses until she launched her “Lady of leisure Millinery” label seven years ago.
She hasn’t looked back since.
Part time milliner, part time nuclear medical scientist, Lisa Leverington is the founder of Lady of leisure Millinery. Source: Supplied
Peaks and Troughs
Although Lisa has experienced significant traction with her millinery label, she is yet to turn the business into a full-time enterprise.
She says it’s primarily due to the seasonality of the industry.
“In the lead up to the Spring Carnival, I hardly get any sleep,” says Lisa.
“Basically, I'll work anywhere from 10:00 PM till about 4:00 or 5:00 AM each day.”
“But I do get very anxious every year that the same amount of clients aren't going to come back because they've seen someone else or whatnot,” she says.
[videocard video="1359820867553"]
Felicity Northeast, treasurer at the Millinery Association of Australia says that the vast majority of the Association’s members work in millinery part-time.
“Most milliners are supplementing their income by (doing) another form of millinery, not just spring carnival,” she says.
“They would be doing theatre millinery, teaching, or doing supply of millinery.
“We are seeing a lot more hobbyist milliners now - so the milliners that used to be able to survive most of the year, can’t anymore.”
But, one hat-maker who has been able to turn the craft into a full-time enterprise and keep it that way is Kim Fletcher of Kim Fletcher Millinery Art.
“When I started in millinery, it was only a part-time job,” says Kim.
“I worked in an office the rest of the week to help put food on the table.
“It's only been in the last 10 years that I've been full-time doing what I love, being millinery.”
Kim’s diversified her work by teaching hat-making in collaboration with P & O Cruises, as well as exporting hats to racing carnivals in overseas markets.
Kim Fletcher of Kim Fletcher Millinery Art, is bucking trends and not selling online, relying on custom-made orders. Source: Supplied
Technology cultivating change
Another major change shifting the traditional hat-making industry is the rising digitisation of stores.
Felicity says that milliners are increasingly turning to create online shops and using social media to sell their hand-made headwear instead of opening bricks and mortar studios.
“People do buy hats online - it’s probably this day and age because people will buy dresses, people will buy everything online.
“Some things have been really beneficial with social media - we’ve certainly been able to get designs out to the public, and therefore been able to sell it online throughout Australia as well as the world.”
But she says that the downside is that designs are more easily copied.
“Since our designs are out there, there’s probably a bit more of a prevalence of copying,” says Felicity.
Lisa has found copies of her own Lady of Leisure Millinery designs online. Source: Supplied
“Ten years ago you would see a hat that looked like yours in the newspaper three days after the event, whereas now (when copying) occurs, it happens almost straight away.”
For Lisa, the majority of her business is through online orders and she attributes the ease and convenience of parcel delivery to the rise in popularity buying hats over the internet.
“I think one of the great things with online is that customers do receive their orders very quickly.
“You click a button, and with postage, there are courier companies that deliver in a three to four hour time frame, so my number one priority is customer service and getting it to the customer as soon as possible.”
