Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size The commitment to craftsmanship achieved by France’s leading luxury houses at the Olympic Games in Paris can be found closer to home.
Follow the Macleay River instead of the Seine, take the Kempsey turn off on the Pacific Highway, drive past the Slim Dusty Centre and you will find the unremarkable home of the height of homemade Australian fashion: hatmaker Akubra. The nondescript workshop, where the 148-year-old company moved to from Sydney in 1974, will never be mistaken for a boutique on the Champs-Élysées. But inside the premises a 115-strong workforce share the dedication of their Parisienne counterparts, steaming, pummelling, shellacking and taming rabbit fur into stiff-brimmed perfection.
Workers in starched white coats at Louis Vuitton and Dior reached luxury’s pinnacle at the Olympics with monogrammed medal cases and an intricately beaded gown for Celine Dion . For the more casually dressed Akubra workers, the gold medal is their recently renewed contract with the Australian Defence Force to produce slouch hats for the army. “There’s no two ways about it,” says Ron Palin, Akubra’s general manager of operations.
“The highest standard we put out of this place is a slouch hat. It’s not because we are held to a higher standard but because the.