A CHANCE meeting with a local MP who’d popped in to buy a dress has alerted a local dressmaking boutique to the existence of federal grants that can help them take on overseas competitors.
Tokay Boutique—run by Jessica McLagan and her mum Jennifer Stefanelli—has for 16 years been making its own clothes using WA suppliers and labour. It’s tough competing with cheap imports from Asia, they admit.
Federal Perth Labor MP Alannah MacTiernan recently popped in to buy a wedding outfit and let them know about grants of up to $50,000 to help local textilers compete and expand.
Ms McLagan says she’ll definitely look into applying for a grant as the company has a “two-pronged growth strategy” to expand. “What we want to do is launch an e-commerce store, and to meet the demand that will come from that store the second project we want to launch is a demand manufacturing process.We’d take online orders and cut and manufacture them as soon as orders are placed.”
Ms MacTiernan chimes in: “This grant would help them get that work done to enable them to expand this very good business.”
The cut-to-order should help head off the competition which, while cheap, can be problematic with delivery and postage.
by DAVID BELL
Perth Voice Interactive 
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