Leaders of Australian Design: Country Road's Jane Parker and Elle Roseby

In celebration of International Women’s Day, we asked two leaders of Australian design to discuss the role of the fashion industry in accelerating progress and how we can work towards a better future.

Jane Parker is the former design director of Country Road. Together with her brother Stephen Bennett, Jane was responsible for establishing the brand’s revered design handwriting and played an instrumental role in Country Road’s success.

Today, Elle Roseby is Country Road’s managing director, guiding the brand on its vision of becoming a world-leading, responsible lifestyle brand. Throughout her distinguished career, Elle has shaped some of Australia’s largest retailers, including Myer, Sportsgirl and Supré.

Here, Jane and Elle share insight into their paths in the fashion industry, the challenges and their hopes for the future.

What was your path into the fashion industry like?

I guess I have always pushed the boundaries, not only in design but also how to engineer my ideas into reality.

I made my first dress at nine, remodelled my first pair of boys’ 501s at 12 years, and at 15, I remodelled my school’s uniform from a tunic to a skirt. Why, because I had grown out of my tunic and after a few detentions, I convinced the principal to make the change. Throughout my teenage years I designed and made all my own clothes; day, evening, swim and ski clothing; all before I went to design college.

My first full-time job was working in the production team for a small company in Flinders Lane. As a junior, my role was to prepare the fabric, trims and labels for the factories.  From there, I was successful in securing a role with Adele Palmer (later to be the JAG Group) as her assistant. Again, no design role but I learnt so much working for her.

The next step was working for a sportswear company that made tennis wear; my first design role. In early February 1975, my brother Steve called me and asked if I would come and help him grow Country Road; the rest is in the Country Road history book.

You led the design direction at Country Road for many years. In your opinion, what makes a great leader?

Inclusiveness. Stephen always surrounded himself with really great people that complemented each part of the process. My role in design was to put a good team in place, ensuring they understood where Steve was taking the company and how we all fitted into the equation.

I really enjoyed working with my team. I guess it was about being inclusive and open—I might've been a bit stubborn at times, but maybe that’s a question for the people who worked for me [laughs].

What were some of the challenges you faced and how did you overcome them?

I had my first son in 1988, and it was a big adjustment. I had to make a big personal sacrifice as a mother, but I put the best network in place I could to ensure my children had the best care while I was away.

I wasn’t perfect. I had to travel a lot, because I was visiting Hong Kong every six weeks and off to the fabric fairs twice a year. As we expanded into America, we were out in stores training and doing a whole lot of things.

I would cry every time I got on a plane. My boys grew to... not understand it, but accept it. And there was no feeling like the joy of coming home. If I was in London, I always took the night flights home so I'd get back home in the morning.

In the hardness there was a lot of joy and a lot of fun, and coming home and celebrating my lovely little boys.

From a design perspective, what are some of the ways we can drive positive change in the fashion industry?

We need to continue looking at alternative approaches to waste. There are more and more companies out there innovating with existing materials, like creating new nylons that are made out of sugar, for example. In Norway, they’re using fish skins to make beautiful shoes and handbags. We've got to turn back the clock and look at what we have—how do we resource more natural fibres?

But that's idealistic. It has to be like all the other issues we face. We have to have a good plan and progress towards that. We can't just shut one process down and open the next door immediately. How do we transition to a new way of working sustainably, so we can come out the other side on top?

What do you hope to see in the future of Australian fashion?

As an industry, I hope we can create more opportunities for students and the younger generations coming through—we need to be making the investment into their future.

You have to be a good mentor to enjoy the privilege of great staff. As a leader, you are responsible for training the next generation into the standards and principles of business.

A lot of great people came out of Country Road and went on to do some amazing things for the industry. It was always a great incubator of talent, and still is today.

Can you talk about some of the challenges you’ve faced and how you overcame them?

My biggest challenge was coming back to work as a new mother, which was really tough. It was 15 years ago and there was no paid parental leave. I only took three months off, and I was so consumed with the pressure of that, I feel like I didn't get the chance to really embrace maternity leave. I know I’m not alone in this feeling, and I’d like to acknowledge how this pressure is amplified in marginalised communities, too.

It was difficult and exhausting, and I probably wasn't the best wife or friend I could be. A lot of things had to give way because I had to try and survive through work and having a baby, on top of being a great mum.

I had to learn to ask for help, which is something I wasn’t good at. I had been incredibly independent in life up until that point, but I learnt that if you surround yourself with the right people, there are friends and family who will support you. You just have to learn to let go of that drive for perfectionism.

The 2024 International Women's Day theme is ‘Count Her In: Invest in Women, Accelerate Progress’. What does this theme mean to you?

During the pandemic, we saw a record number of women dropping out of the workforce. According to a 2021 McKinsey report, one of the main drivers was the increased burden of unpaid care (such as cooking, cleaning and taking care of children) being placed on women.

We are just starting to see a shift back towards pre-pandemic numbers, but a huge disparity still exists. As a society, we need to place greater value on care work performed by both men and women, while encouraging women back into the workforce.

We know that organisations benefit from having a healthy balance of women and men in the team. Studies have shown, that companies with more women in leadership have more engaged workers and are more profitable. So, how can we make it easy for these women to return to work, recognising how much they have to contribute? How can we ensure our workplaces support working parents and families? And importantly, how can we encourage financial independence in women?

There are alarming statistics in Australia that suggest women over 55 are among the fastest growing cohort of people experiencing homelessness. Why? Following a major life disruption, such as the breakdown of a marriage, the loss of a job or the onset of an illness, women are on the back foot financially. They might have low savings or super—due to years of unpaid care work—meaning that they could be facing poverty or homelessness for the first time in their 50s.

Counting her in, to me, means counting her in at every life stage. It is critically important that we invest in strategies that encourage financial independence for women, whether it’s supporting flexible working arrangements, providing greater access to childcare or continuing to enable learning and growth opportunities.

What role can the fashion industry play in empowering women and accelerating process?

If we look at the Australian reatail industry in particular, womwen control over 75% of consumer spending, and represent majority of the retail workforce. However, when we talk about senior leadership roles in retail, the numbers aren't adding up.

Within Australian retailers, 19.6% of board postions are held by women and just 13.9% of companies are led by female CEOs.

We know the benefits that come from diverse leadership, so how do we support the growth ambition of women and ensure we have a pipeline of future leaders? I think there is a real opportunity to set the standard and influence the change we want to see—not only in a retail environment, but across the supply chain too.

As we know, Country Road is celebrating its 50th birthday this year. What do you hope to see in the future of Australian fashion?

I hope we continue to empower women to stay longer, climb higher and break the glass ceiling that exists in our industry. I believe that women are the future of the fashion industry, and will be instrumental in paving the way for circular design economies, rethinking the value of waste and creating beautiful, viable products for tomorrow.