BRITON Jo Hunt of online fashion giant Asos.com makes no bones about the motive for her visit to L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival.

''I'm here to find the latest Australian fashion, and then sell it back to Australians,'' she says. ''This country has become a very important market for us in recent years.''

Jemma Dyas (left) and Jo Hunt of online site Asos.com. Credit:Joe Armao

It's a light-hearted remark, but one that will send a chill up the spines of brick-and-mortar retailers. More Australians are heading online - and overseas to British sites such as Asos.com - for their fashion purchases.

Such is the threat that many of the country's major retailers spent the summer campaigning against a $1000 GST threshold that enables overseas websites to sell in Australia without collecting the consumption tax.