A four-hour practical workshop for future and early-stage fashion entrepreneurs.

The workshop is designed for future and early-stage fashion entrepreneurs, including emerging designers, fashion students, recent graduates, creative founders and small fashion brand owners who want to refine, test or grow a fashion business idea.

The session combines short lectures, mentoring, business frameworks, peer feedback and networking to help participants refine their fashion business idea, understand their customer, test their concept and identify practical next steps for growth.

PANELLISTS

Elle Phillips

Supporting founders to launch & grow @ Innovation Victoria

Elle Phillips is an ecosystem builder at Innovation Victoria, leading programs including NOVA and CivVic Labs that connect public-sector challenges with early-stage innovators. Her experience spans capability building at McKinsey, research commercialisation at CSIRO, and fashion entrepreneurship as co-founder of social enterprise Sockos, helping ideas move from concept to execution.

Nataša Pitra-Grbić

Founder | Fashion Entrepreneur, Production Strategist & Educator | Head of Business & Innovation at LCIM | Innovation & Production Ambassador Global Sourcing Expo

Nataša Pitra-Grbić is an award-winning fashion entrepreneur, founder of PITRA, Co-Founder and Chief Education Officer of Etéliere Fashion Founder Academy, and Head of Business & Management at LCI Melbourne. With over two decades of global industry experience, she bridges creative vision and commercial execution across design, production, entrepreneurship and international supply chains, while supporting the next generation of fashion innovators.

Rachel Lamarche-Beauchesne, PhD

Senior Lecturer, Fashion Marketing & Enterprise - Researching plant‑based systems in theory and practice

Dr Rachel Lamarche-Beauchesne is a Senior Lecturer in Fashion Enterprise at Torrens University Australia. Her RMIT PhD examined values-driven consumer behaviour, while her work spans plant-based systems, fashion sustainability, marketing and ethical consumption. An experienced educator and industry commentator, she translates research into accessible insights on the changing fashion consumer.

Tony Lee

Strategic Branding and Marketing Consultant | RMIT Lecturer | Photographer

Tony Lee is a strategic branding and marketing consultant, RMIT lecturer and photographer with more than 25 years of experience in Melbourne’s creative industries. He has led branding, marketing and digital communications projects for agencies, startups and non-profits, while mentoring clients and students to turn creative ambitions into practical outcomes.

MODERATOR

Daniele Volpe

Postgraduate Lecturer | Academic Mentor | Startup Adviser

Daniele Volpe is a postgraduate lecturer, academic mentor, startup adviser and business strategist specialising in marketing, strategic planning and go-to-market execution. Drawing on consulting and university experience in Australia and overseas, he helps startups, established brands and emerging leaders build partnerships, sharpen critical thinking and translate ideas into practical growth.

Contact the host of Fashion Business Incubator: Build, Test and Grow