Cotton farmer stitches together fashion empire in regional Queensland

Sam Coulton started his clothing business 34 years ago. (ABC Landline: Pip Courtney) Link copiedShareShare article"Rural Australia needs more Sam Coultons. They just do extraordinary things," Goondiwindi Mayor Lawrence Springborg said. He is talking about a 73-year-old farmer, fashion brand founder, clothing retailer and tourism operator known to many in the southern Queensland town as "Sampa", a playful combination of his name and Grandpa. Last year, Sam Coulton opened his first standalone retail shop based in the new headquarters of his long-established Goondiwindi Cotton clothing company. Lawrence Springborg is proud to have business-minded locals like Sam Coulton in town. (ABC Landline: Cameron Lang) "When the Coulton family puts their mind to something, they do it very well. We're really, really grateful they've created this beautiful space in downtown Goondiwindi," local councillor Julia Spicer said. "The retail shop wouldn't be out of place in Sydney," Ms Spicer said. As well as the store, the building encompasses administration, design and marketing offices, along with a cafe and warehouse. Basing the business in rural Australia comes at a cost. Sam Coulton and his family have been farming cotton in Goondiwindi since the 70s. (ABC Landline: Cameron Lang) Being further away from a capital city means increased transportation expenses, adding $5 to the price of every garment, but it's a cost he's happy to carry. Mr Coulton's staff are a pillar of his business in Goondiwindi. "Because my girls have been with me for years", Mr Coulton said, adding: "Industries, if they can, should be for the people, not just one person." Councillor Spicer said every job that was created and stayed in town made a difference. Julia Spicer is pleased Sam Coulton hasn't moved the business to a capital city to keep his costs down. (ABC Landline: Cameron Lang) "Anecdotally, we talk about having lost 50 families in previous droughts, and those families don't come back when it rains, so being able to have almost drought-proof roles in a rural agricultural community like ours is really important," she said. Mr Coulton was a cotton and grain farmer looking for drought-proof income when he turned to clothing manufacturing 34 years ago. In 1989, he sent 212 bales of the family's cotton for processing. The designs of Goondiwindi Cotton are always classic cuts and strong colours. (ABC Landline: Pip Courtney) There was enough yarn to make 200,000 T-shirts, but he had no customers. The risky move eventually paid off when he was asked to supply a major surfwear brand. In 1992, he started his own label, which is now stocked by 220 retailers. Head designer Michelle Shepherd said Mr Coulton was no fashionista and left the designing to her. "Customers expect classic clothes; we're never way out," Ms Shepherd said. The business produces 60,000 garments for men and women a year, and Mr Coulton said fashion was just as challenging as agriculture. Cotton being harvested at Sam Coulton's Goondiwindi property. (ABC Landline: Cameron Lang) "Our family's about the only people in the world that take it from a seed all the way through to a garment, and I know why," Mr Coulton said. Goondiwindi produces 15 per cent of Australia's cotton, but Mr Coulter and many other growers believe their industry is unfairly judged. To address this, 15 years ago, he started a farm tour business so visitors could gain more knowledge and understanding of the $2 billion industry. Every year, 3,500 tourists take the trip, and tour guide Lois Phillips said their biggest misunderstanding was about water. "People have an allocation of water, which they pay [for]. Some people aren't aware of that, and the other thing they don't understand is if it hasn't rained and there isn't an allocation of water to grow the crops … they can't grow a crop," Ms Phillips said. "We're trying to, in a little small way, [to] just show people what we are, after all you've been trusting us [my family] to feed you three times a day … for the last hundred years, so please listen to us," Mr Coulton said. This cotton waste product is an example of what Sam Coulton hopes to process in a recycling facility one day soon. (ABC Landline: Cameron Lang) Mr Coulton has one more business plan in mind for Goondiwindi before he retires. It's to build a recycling plant to divert cotton textile waste (clothing and bedding) from landfill and put it back into the paddocks where it was grown. Trials on the Coulton farms showed that shredded cotton improved soil health. "It would employ 15 to 20 people in Goondiwindi, shredding garments, going through them, spreading it on farms," Mr Coulton said. "It'll work and give us another drought-proof income." Watch ABC TV's Landline at 12:30pm AEST on Sunday or stream anytime on ABC iview. Copy linkFacebookX (formerly Twitter)PromotionTop StoriesNeo-Nazis fundraising to challenge laws that listed them as hate groupTopic:Extremism

Cotton farmer stitches together fashion empire in regional Queensland

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