It has been said by many that the fashion industry is a cut-throat one. An industry that is very hard to succeed in simply due to the nature of how garments in particular change hands from manufacturers to end users.
The Smouha fabric company was a company that managed to successfully trade fabrics in Australia since 1950. That was until the Global financial crisis affected the customers of Smouha fabrics and they were unable to repay loans owed to the company.
We can still learn a lot about a fabric company that succeeded in this cut-throat industry. It was due to their great reputation, good service and above all else their commitment to stocking only the highest quality fabrics.
Smouha fabrics have lived through government changes in the last few decades which affected many importers. The government increasing the allowance of off shore manufacturing by reducing duties and tariffs is one such example. Even when competition became fierce with cheaper prices on offer to designers and manufacturers Smouha fabrics remained a trusted supplier. This was due to the fabric company delivering exactly what their customers wanted while financing them at the same time.
The fabric empire was started by Philips father Charles, originally from Manchester in the UK which traditionally was the textile centre. Long before the company traded millions of dollars each year the family business began with the goal of just surviving. The business continued to grow through many fashion trends from the 50s to today because of their great style and depth of knowledge of where trends were headed.
Philip Smouha, the director of the 49 year old family business has since found his footing after closing a chapter in his life and is successfully building companies once again. His son is involved in running a beer company called Lucky beer with him. The company has already had a great impact in Australia and off shore due to the cheeky nature of the marketing and original idea which no body has come up with before.
The solid principles of supporting customers and providing them with exactly what they need from the decades in the fashion industry have obviously not gone to waste. The Smouha family continue to live very successful lives.