In Australia, garment manufacturing is powered by a workforce fearful of catching Covid. In what should be a busy time, factories now stand empty
When coronavirus hit international fashion manufacturing centres last year, many Australian designers pivoted to making clothes onshore. But as Sydney’s lockdown extends into the second half of 2021, garment factories are struggling to stay open and the long-term viability of manufacturing in Australia is under threat.
Sydney’s inner west is usually a busy hub of clothing manufacturing. But the machinists who power this industry often commute in from the city’s south west, an area subject to the strictest lockdown orders in New South Wales.