How a clear point of difference, a commitment to doing the right thing and constant innovation have paid off for luxury swimwear label Bondi Born - which is showcased in Afterpay’s Edit Collection this month.
Dale McCarthy’s tips for success
Build a distinct brand: There’s no point in being in business unless your brand has a distinct benefit or point of difference. You may not find it on day one, but you’ve just got to keep trying and honing and fine-tuning.
Hire the best people: It’s all about the team. Find the best possible people around you, who are there for the journey and support you – then you have to empower them and treat them right.
Understand every aspect: You have to understand every single part of your business in order to be a good manager. You have to understand what people’s jobs are and exactly what’s involved in every area of the business in order to make the right decisions.
Dale McCarthy freely admits that when she launched swimwear label Bondi Born she was a fashion outsider with no background in design… and zero expertise in swimwear.
However, as the former chief marketing officer of Fairfax Media, what McCarthy did have was a deep understanding and appreciation for branding. And it’s testimony to the importance of branding (and McCarthy’s determination and inherent sense of style) that Bondi Born has become a globally successful swimwear label, stocked everywhere from Net-A-Porter to Harrods.
“I’ve learned – and I know – that there is no point in being in business unless your brand has a distinct benefit or a distinct point of difference.”
Taking Australia to the world
The concept for Bondi Born took shape in 2015, while McCarthy was living in Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach.
“My father was an entrepreneur, and I always wanted to do my own thing,” she says. “I would go on walks on Bondi Beach every day and [say to myself], ‘This is just heaven, I’m so lucky. The whole world should appreciate this.’ Then I would think, ‘How do you export this to the world?’”
Swimwear, she realised, was the obvious answer. Not only was it intrinsically linked to Australia, but it was lightweight and easy to export.
Fuelled by a desire to promote Bondi’s natural beauty on a global stage - and, with a digital marketer’s understanding that geography needn’t be a barrier for modern brands - McCarthy chose to export overseas first. A UK agent helped secure stockists like Selfridges and Harrods.
Recruiting - and rewarding - experts
In the early days, McCarthy taught herself Adobe Illustrator and enlisted experienced pattern-makers to help with the technical aspects of swimwear.
But as soon as possible, she invested in broadening her team, and brought on ex-Harper’s Bazaar creative director Karla Clarke in 2018.
“Hiring is critical. All my team have worked in fashion all their lives. I’m the outsider, the business person, but they all know way more than me [about fashion], which is perfect.”
Keeping staff engaged is crucial, says McCarthy, who adds that this is where small businesses often have an advantage. “I’m very passionate about this business, and I want to have fun. We have to have fun to grow this thing together. I think everyone’s very engaged because we’ve literally grown from working out of my kitchen in Bondi to being in a warehouse in Marrickville. Everyone’s enjoyed being part of that journey.”
I’m very passionate about this business, and I want to have fun. We have to have fun to grow this thing together.
Capturing global attention
In 2018, Bondi Born launched its first ready-to-wear collection, and this, together with the brand’s first Australian Fashion Week show, helped capture the attention of global e-commerce giants such as Net-A-Porter.
Not that it was all plain sailing.
In the early days, the brand’s luxury positioning made it difficult to get local wholesalers on board. “I had boutiques all across Europe, but [wholesalers here] said it was too expensive and that no one would pay $120 for a pair of [bikini] bottoms. But we did a pop-up at Bondi Beach and it went gangbusters!”
This month, McCarthy opens a new pop-up at Sydney’s Chatswood Chase. The store is part of Afterpay’s Edit Collection, which aims to support future fashion leaders by helping them build a local presence in physical retail.
“The Edit Collection is an amazing opportunity for us to put the entire gorgeous collection in one place, so people can experience it and see it all together.”
Building a brand
Six years on from launching, the brand’s success has begun to “snowball”, says McCarthy. Australian e-commerce sales have doubled in the past year, and wholesale orders are up 175 per cent year-on-year.
From the beginning McCarthy has been conscious of building a brand that endures. She says that high-quality, flattering fabrics that help women look and feel their best, as well as a “pared-back” elegance, devoid of frills or patterns, have become Bondi Born’s signature aesthetic.
“I’m very passionate about what you could call contemporary Australian style. I think there’s a sophisticated side to Australian art and culture that isn’t well understood, or is not always seen overseas.”
“Brands take time for people to understand and recognise,” she continues, “and retailers have to have them in store for a few seasons, and then suddenly it’s all selling through. Other retailers see it at the big stores and it’s just a real snowball.”
Innovation
The other element that has snowballed over time is Bondi Born’s environmental credentials. Today the brand is B-Corp-certified and all production occurs in Sydney’s inner-west.
“We didn't set out to be Australia's most sustainable brand,” says McCarthy. “But what we discovered is [that] in the process of making garments, at every stage, there's a decision to be made… [from] what fabric you choose [to] what packaging about where you get made, and at every stage we chose things that are the best for people and the planet.”
For McCarthy, bringing on Afterpay was a natural decision, and part of the brand’s constant drive to innovate. “It’s another option for customers, and [today] a reasonable percentage of our transactions are done through Afterpay. Afterpay has also really embraced the fashion industry, especially with sponsoring fashion week this year.”
Dale McCarthy’s tips for success
Build a distinct brand: There’s no point in being in business unless your brand has a distinct benefit or point of difference. You may not find it on day one, but you’ve just got to keep trying and honing and fine-tuning.
Hire the best people: It’s all about the team. Find the best possible people around you, who are there for the journey and support you – then you have to empower them and treat them right.
Understand every aspect: You have to understand every single part of your business in order to be a good manager. You have to understand what people’s jobs are and exactly what’s involved in every area of the business in order to make the right decisions.
All references to any registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Afterpay does not endorse or recommend any one particular supplier and the information provided is for educational purposes only.
Categories