aussieBum
| File:AussieBum logo.jpg | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Fashion |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Founder | Sean Ashby, Guyon Holland |
| Headquarters | Sydney , Australia |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Men's swimwear, underwear, and clothing |
| Website | aussiebum.com |
AussieBum is an Australian men's swimwear manufacturer. In recent years aussieBum has also increased its product line to other clothing include underwear, leisurewear, sportswear and loungewear.
The company has achieved international recognition for several products such as Essence underwear; which contains vitamins locked in the fibre which releases through the skin[1].
All aussieBum products are manufactured in Australia with the business run completely out of the company's headquarters in the Sydney suburb of Leichhardt.
History
In 2001, director Sean Ashby started aussieBum when he couldn’t find the style of swimwear he grew up with. The company had an inauspicious launch in the middle of the dot-com bust, and at the time the original website ran from a suburban lounge room, created by Ashby. Joined by co-director Guyon Holland, they created a new market by bringing back the classic speedo-style Aussie cossie and introducing digital prints and other vibrant designs.
Since starting out with only A$20,000 in 2001, aussieBum is now a multi-million dollar global enterprise, employing over 35 people, manufacturing over 150 different styles of products. The company has doubled in size each year since its founding.[2]
Marketing
The company has no sales representatives overseas but relies on the strength of the company website. Australian sales make up only 10% of its business, and is on its way to A$20 million in annual sales.[3] The company has a broad reach for a business run entirely via the Web, with no shop front and minimal packing staff. The online store warehouse, which has very advanced in-house technology, to pick, pack, and ship over 1,000 unique orders a day, requires only eight people.[4]
The brand retails in some of the biggest department stores in the world such as Selfridges, Harrods and House of Fraser in the UK, Printemps in Paris, KaDeWe in Berlin, and Harvey Nichols in Dubai, as well as in small boutiques in various cities around the world. The range is also available from the UK's largest online-only fashion retailer ASOS.com. aussieBum's online e-store ships to more than 70 countries.[5]
Advertising
AussieBum promotes their products in non-traditional venues on the internet, such as blogs, social networking sites Facebook, MySpace, and the online game Second Life. The brand has a popular online following with the aussieBum being the 7th most popular search term in Australia.[4] Cultivating the image of a larrikin Australian has also helped the company in getting noticed in overseas markets where residents are curious about Australian culture.
The brand uses a distinctly cheeky advertising style, such as remaking the iconic Australian painting Shearing the Rams with muscle-bound blokes shearing sheep in just their undies.[6] Celebrities including Ewan McGregor, Billy Connolly, and Daniel Radcliffe are fans of the cossies while Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue featured buff men wearing aussieBums in the video clip for Slow. Soccer superstar and men's fashion trendsetter David Beckham has also appeared in the brand.[7]
Products
Wonderjock
In November 2006, the Wonderjock was launched in the aussieBum underwear lines. Wonderjocks have been designed to lift and enhance a man's genitals, through the use of a fabric cup used to protrude everything out instead of just down.[8] 50,000 pairs of the new underwear were sold in the first seven days of being released.[9] The name was chosen as a pun on the popular Wonderbra line of push-up bras.[citation needed]
In May 2007, the company also introduced Wonderjock technology into their swimwear line. Currently in the Classic, Storm, and Loose varieties, a fabric pouch is used to enhance a man's package, particularly when getting out of cold water. Since their release the Wonderjock styles have been altered and renamed Boosterjock, with the new design giving a more natural shape and less restrictive feel than the earlier version.
See also
References
- ^ Fox News (20 February 2006). "FOXNews.com – Energize Your Underpants". Retrieved 13 March 2007.
- ^ "Aussie bum's rush to millions". The Sydney Morning Herald. 20 October 2005.
- ^ Newman, Geoffrey (30 April 2007). "Australian IT: Internet can overcome the name". Retrieved 18 May 2007. [dead link]
- ^ a b International Herald Tribune (21 January 2008). "Aussiebum: Down Under designs in more ways than one". Retrieved 23 May 2008.
- ^ Daily Telegraph (3 November 2006). "Wonderbra for men 'enhances'". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Retrieved 18 April 2007.
- ^ Byrnes, Holly (30 September 2006). "Daily Telegraph: Shear art attack". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Retrieved 18 April 2007.
- ^ AAP (20 October 2005). "The Age: Bums rush". Melbourne. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
- ^ Daily Telegraph (1 November 2006). "Daily Telegraph: Market grows for under wonder". Reuters. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
- ^ Daily Telegraph (1 November 2006). "Daily Telegraph: Market grows for under wonder". Reuters. Retrieved 18 April 2007.