{"id":40757,"date":"2023-10-20T15:09:51","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:09:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/why-this-founder-in-qut-creative-enterprise-australias-fashion-accelerator-almost-ditched-the-horrifying-industry-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:09:51","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:09:51","slug":"why-this-founder-in-qut-creative-enterprise-australias-fashion-accelerator-almost-ditched-the-horrifying-industry-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/why-this-founder-in-qut-creative-enterprise-australias-fashion-accelerator-almost-ditched-the-horrifying-industry-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Why this founder in QUT Creative Enterprise Australia\u2019s Fashion Accelerator almost ditched the \u201chorrifying\u201d industry – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"CEA's<\/div>\n

Queensland startup founder Evie Willsteed is on a mission to create better alternatives for fashion lovers in an industry where the profit of many popular brands come at what she says are \u201chorrifying\u201d costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI watched a few documentaries about the fashion industry and thought: oh, that\u2019s horrifying I can\u2019t partake in this anymore,\u201d she tells StartupSmart.<\/em><\/p>\n

Willsteed is one of four participants taking on Australia\u2019s $28.5 billion fashion industry in QUT Creative Enterprise Australia\u2019s five-month Fashion Accelerator, which will culminate in a pitch before industry heavyweights like former David Jones chief executive Paul Zahra and Vogue Australia editor-in-chief Edwina McCann<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read more: Former David Jones CEO Paul Zahra to share \u201cbig business wisdom\u201d with startups in new role with Creative Enterprise Australia<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Willsteed describes her venture, Genkstacy, as “an ethical street wear label”.<\/p>\n

The brand takes inspiration from Japanese street style, hip hop and New York fashion but is focused on organic, ethical and sustainable manufacturing processes. It will launch near the end of 2017.<\/p>\n

After completing a Certificate 3 in fashion, Willsteed says she became so disenfranchised with the industry that she almost gave up on it altogether.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time, I was quite disillusioned with the unethical elements of the fashion industry,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot knowing how to get around those, I decided I was going to leave fashion for a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the founder was brought back to the sector while studying fine arts, when a project on organic cotton led her to the discovery of an increasing number of sustainable alternatives in cloth and materials.<\/p>\n

Having spent the past year on research, Willsteed decided to apply to the fashion tech accelerator\u00a0after hitting a wall \u201con the resourcing side of things”.<\/p>\n

But one month into the program, she says she’s confident about bringing the brand to market this year. Other labels expected to graduate with Genkstacy include Suzzi K, Gloria Dulcie and Miss Summer.<\/p>\n

With the launch of her brand, Willsteed wants to build\u00a0a community of followers who share and live by ethical and sustainable fashion.<\/p>\n

\u201cDay to day, we\u2019re working on our own businesses and applying things that we\u2019ve learned in our mentoring workshops which we have once a week,\u201d Willsteed says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get these amazing mentors who come in and teach us from their life experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m most excited about getting more of a clear direction on where to take my business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em>\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0and iTunes<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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