The iconic South Australian knitting mill, Silver Fleece, has been saved by the sustainable fashion company Sunset Lover, who has officially secured all its assets.
Co-founders of Sunset Lover, Dean and Melanie Flintoft, were behind announced the acquisition, which was made possible by a successful 48-hour capital raising media campaign.
The quick and successful capital raise not only signals a strong comeback for Silver Fleece but also paves the way for new business partnerships and strategic growth opportunities.
Sunset Lover will now work alongside existing clients like Cricket Australia and private and public schools nationwide, something the Flintoft’s can’t wait for.
“We get the ‘keys’ today and will immediately reassure all existing customers of our renewed operations, well-capitalised status, and continued commitment to excellence, whilst concurrently building a new portfolio of clients to further strengthen our position and get the mill operating at 100 per cent capacity,” said the Flintofts.
Silver Fleece is a renowned Australian brand with a remarkable 73-year history that is dedicated to producing high-quality, locally made products with a focus on sustainability and ethical practices.
The Flintofts said that moving forward it will also offer Australian yarn and a full ethical traceable production process for all clients.
“Our ethos is to manufacture exceptional, proudly Australian-made products. With our industry experience and commitment to sustainable fashion moving forward, and the overwhelming response to our capital raising campaign – we are confident that we can revitalise Silver Fleece and make our investors happy because Australians do care about where ‘their clothing’ is made,” said the Flintofts.
The pair also announced the upcoming Sunset Lover Resort 2024/25 collection will launch the first capsule under this innovative collaboration with Silver Fleece, representing a significant milestone in the brand’s journey towards innovation and excellence.
“This is a dream partnership for Sunset Lover because Silver Fleece 100 per cent aligns with sustainable Australian made fashion. It will showcase the blend of craftsmanship and sustainability that this knitting mill can produce. We can’t wait to bring other Australian companies into the fold that care about Australian manufactured garments like we are,” they said.
Luxury fashion brands, corporates, government, healthcare, sporting clubs and schools are on the immediate client hit list with Silver Fleece being one of the few options left for Australian made knitwear.
Silver Fleece is equipped with state-of-the-art Shima Seiki Japanese knitting machines, known in the industry as the best in the world.
Over the coming months the new owners will introduce a brand new Shima Seiki Wholegarment knitting machine to improve the capabilities and efficiency of the factory.
This will help to further leverage the recent fundraising campaign which undeniably demonstrated Australians’ passion for sovereign manufacturing.
“The iconic Australian-owned mill that honours the beautiful Australian artisan craft of knitting wool has been preserved and we would like to offer our heartfelt thanks to everyone, including people like the CEO of the Australian Fashion Council, Jaana Quaintance-James who believes in this craft like we do – we won’t let you down!” said the Flintofts.
Silver Fleece, which was established in 1951 and has a rich lineage of Australian craftsmanship, will resume ‘business’ today under the new management.
The 20 skilled staff and technicians whose jobs have been saved are primarily women and include younger employees eager to learn and preserve the artisan craft.
The Adelaide-based knitting mill entered administration last month, with a general meeting on 26 June 2024 resolving that the company be wound up.
Daniel Lopresti and Simon Richard Miller were appointed as liquidators. The Flintofts were awarded the assets of the company on 9 August by the liquidators and take over the mill today, Monday, 12 August 2024.