Josh Goot

Josh Goot
Josh Goot
Born	Joshua Goot 1980 (age 37–38) Sydney, New South Wales
Nationality	Australian
Occupation	Fashion designer
Partner(s)	Christine Centenera

Joshua Goot (born 1980 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian independent fashion designer and entrepreneur. He was born in Sydney and moved to New York^[1] with his partner, Vogue Australia fashion director Christine Centenera.^[2]

Education

Goot attended Moriah College,^[3] graduating in 1997. He was accepted to the BA Communication (Media, Arts and Production) at University of Technology Sydney.^[4]

Commencing in 1999, after travelling in Europe and the Middle East, Goot deferred his studies following his first year at the University of Technology, Sydney.^[5]

During his time at UTS, Goot became interested in fashion design. “My course had a communications focus and I became intrigued by the idea of fashion as a form of media.”^[6]

Early career

Josh Goot had no formal fashion education. His introduction to the industry came with his first label Platform, founded in 2000 with his friend Josh Goulburn.^[7]

The pair split in 2002, and Goot continued Platform, taking the printed tee-shirt line into a youth-focused, street-wear collection. Goot closed the business in 2004.

Josh Goot

In early 2005, Goot launched his eponymous label with a capsule of unisex tailored jersey essentials in grey marl and “futuristic” silver. The collection was “made entirely from cotton jersey, from blazers and trench coats to trousers, albeit they were precisely cut and beautifully finished.”^[8]

“Taking the structured principles of tailoring and applying them to sportswear, his debut offering” was viewed as “a new fashion hybrid… a contemporary, forward-thinking, unisex collection”.^[9]

In 2005, Goot’s debut collection won Australia’s “prestigious Tiffany & Co. Designer of the Year Award at the Melbourne Fashion Festival” and the Prix de Marie Claire Award for Best Up and Coming Designer.^[10]

In May 2005, Goot showed at Australian Fashion Week for the first time. While remaining true to his cotton jersey concept and unisex ideals, the look evolved into feminine pieces, losing the utilitarian appeal of the first collection, but retaining the ease and simplicity.^[11]

Goot’s first runway presentation introduced a new aesthetic to the Australian fashion & beauty landscape – the natural light, paired-back hair, make-up, and sense of open space would become brand ideals.^[12]

The collection captured the interest of the Australian industry and customer - bought by leading boutiques including The Corner Shop (Sydney), Parlour X (Sydney), Marais (Melbourne) and Elle (Perth).

New York

Later in 2005, the line appeared on the cover of Women’s Wear Daily for its “marriage between traditional tailoring and the all American T”.^[13]

In September 2006 Goot showed at New York Fashion Week for the first time. His “urban athletic looks”^[14] presented at the Matthew Marks Gallery, were well received by international press & buyers. The label secured leading stockists including Colette (Paris), Browns Focus (London).^[15]

During his time in New York, Goot’s “clean, lean lines, strong colour sense and modern attitude” emerged as defining principles.^[16]

Goot continued to show his collections in New York and Sydney, but despite the attention and growth he moved to London in 2008 - invited by the British Fashion Council to show at London Fashion Week.^[17]

London

The move from New York to London saw Goot’s message develop further - introducing original digital art, tailoring techniques and complex constructions.

In his first London show, with a collection inspired by water, Goot was noticed for his “pragmatic modernism” of “liquid prints… colour blocked jersey and graphic simplicity.”^[18]

The “maverick yet disciplined”^[19] digital art, developed in collaboration with Sydney based creative Shane Sakkeus, and “precisely engineered”^[20] to each garment became a signature.”^[21]

In London, the collection secured leading customers in Europe including Le Bon Marche (Paris), Maria Luisa (Paris), Liberty (department store) (London) and Matches Fashion (London).

Return to Australia

Following the Financial crisis of 2007–2008, Goot experienced a downturn in his international business and returned to Australia in 2009 to focus on his home market.^[22]

The collections retained a focus on digital print, and introduced a series of “innovative technological developments in textiles” developed in Goot’s Sydney studio.^[23]

2011 saw a return to Australian Fashion Week with a collection inspired by Gerhard Richter, staged in a disused Ford Factory.^[24]

Later that year Goot signed with leading Australian department store David Jones Limited, opening the Autumn Winter 2012 season launch with a tailored tuxedo suit worn by Miranda Kerr.^[25]

Sydney and Melbourne

In 2010 Josh Goot opened a first retail store in a converted gallery space on Sydney’s Glenmore Road.^[26]

In 2012, the label moved to Oxford Street, Sydney. Working with architect Andy McDonnell, the new retail environment introduced audio-visual elements together with pristine white walls, juxtaposed with raw construction materials. A retractable roof opened to the sky above a multi-colour carpet designed by Shane Sakkeus.^[27]

In 2013, Goot opened in Melbourne. The bunker-like frontage expanded to an “all-concrete space that is bold and controlled, broken only by a large glass atrium at the rear that towers above the change rooms, letting in the elements and beautiful floor-filling light”.^[28]

Collaborations

Josh Goot has a long-standing relationship with Australian Wool Innovation. He has acted as an ambassador and advocate for Australian Merino Wool, incorporating Merino textile developments into his collections.^[29]

In 2007 Josh Goot was the first Australian designer to collaborate with Target Australia in the Designers For Target initiative. “I believe in taking my ideas to a wider audience”, Goot said at the media launch.^[30]

In 2010, he collaborated with the Sydney Dance Company in Rafael Bonachella’s 6 Breaths. Goot worked with artist and designer Jonathan Zawada on a print-based, unisex identity for the production.^[31]

Australian Identity

Josh Goot has been integral to establishing Australian fashion design in an international context.

In 2013, Goot said, “What I wanted to do with the label was to create a modern, urban, Australian fashion brand. It was born out of these core ideals of modernity, modernism and a sense of sport, and I wanted it to capture an Australian point of view in a new way that hadn’t been expressed before.” ^[32]

Goot’s collections are Australian made and fabricated in Italian textiles.^[33] In 2013, Goot spoke at the Australian Financial Review’s Bespoke Summit at the Sydney Opera House on the topic of building a luxury fashion label in Australia.^[34]

Voluntary Administration

In February 2015, Josh Goot entered Voluntary Administration.

Goot spoke openly of the company’s “downward spiral”^[35] citing “well documented external factors at play within the domestic industry.”^[36]

The designer said in a statement: “We now need to take some time to restructure to protect the long term interests of the brand and all involved.”^[37]

Goot said, “We are, I think unique in the Australian landscape and that doesn’t necessarily make our experience easier, but I also think that it does give us a real future and that’s what we’re going to be working to secure.”^[38]

The company emerged from Administration and control returned to Goot as sole director.^[39] “The designer behind one of Australia’s most acclaimed brands announced yesterday that creditors had voted for a Deed of Company arrangement, allowing him to continue the business as an independent operator.”^[40]

Awards

2005 Winner Tiffany & Co. Young Designer of the Year Award, Melbourne

2005 Winner Best Up and Coming Designer Prix de Marie Claire Awards, Sydney.

2008 Finalist The Fashion Group International. Rising Star, New York.

2009 Finalist International Mango Fashion Award, Barcelona

2009 Winner Best Designer Prix de Marie Claire Awards, Sydney

References