👉 Background: RM Williams is the boots and bush clothing company that started by a chap named Reginald (R) Murray (M) Williams way back in 1932. It was designed to be a durable boot for farmers and bushmen (but more popular amongst the investment banking floors now).

👉 What happened: Andrew Twiggy Forrest’s investment company, Tattarang, acquired RM Williams in late 2020 for just under $200m. And it seems like this baby is going from strength to strength.

👉 What else: Sales lifted by 17% in the last 12 months to June but now, the focus for RM Williams is to become an even greener company.

What's the key learning?

💡 The disparity between fast and slow fashion is bigger than ever before. On the one hand, you have companies like Zara, H&M and Shein embracing the world of fast fashion:

• Every single day, Shein updates its website with, on average, 6,000 new styles
• Just 6% of Shein’s inventory remains in stock for more than 90 days

💡On the other hand, you have brands like RM Williams with few, high quality items. And a focus on the longevity of its products (literally life-long boots).

💡The environment continues to become a big priority for consumers and companies. So it will be interesting to see whether fast fashion remains #1, or whether slow fashion could become this industry’s new winner.

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