COVER
If you stand in an Oroton store today , it ’ s vastly different to see who is shopping at Oroton , to the point where 25 – 34-year olds are now the largest sector for us . Going back three years ago , you could have added 10 years to do that [ age demographic ]. It ’ s been a real focus for us to be more relevant to a more fashion-conscious , younger , style-driven consumer . Sophie ' s work has achieved that .
Sophie Holt : When I arrived at Oroton , it was a bit of a shock , it was very serious and very ‘ leather-y ’. The mannequins were leather , the bags were leather , the stores were leather . It was a heritage Australian brand that needed to be lightened up and relaxed . What Oroton has always done so well was quality — it was absolutely beautiful — and the functionality was very well done .
What they lacked was any sense of ranging and balance from building a large range and any relevance to a young , modern customer . If you were older or you were going to work , it was ticking those boxes well , but it wasn ’ t ticking a box for me or my daughter or anyone in between who was fashionable .
It was clear to me that [ the brand ] needed modernising , so we introduced canvas and drill , honest , simple materials and we introduced print silk scarves that added colour and spirit . Then because this is a heritage Australian brand with a great story and it deserves to have it fully told , we decided to launch apparel .
It goes from casual shirt dresses to beautiful lace shirts , there ’ s a little bit of tailoring , but largely , it ’ s transseasonal . We do knitwear , but it ’ s really somewhere in between casual and evening . I ’ d describe it as daywear . We don ’ t do a lot of strict workwear , although we do tailored separates that can be mixed and matched with shorts or a blazer over a dress .
I ’ m a very detail focused person , so I ’ ve spent a lot of time flitting between Sydney and Melbourne , making sure everything coordinates , from the product and stores to the marketing and it all tells the customer the story of the brand .
We love detail and it ’ s what sets us apart — fabric , detailing and colour have always been a passion for me . You have to stand out in the marketplace , you need to give customers a reason to want it . We spend an embarrassingly long time going into the details at an excruciating level .
IR : If you were to describe the Oroton story , what would it be ? SH : I think the message is that Oroton is luxury , but it ’ s Australian lifestyle luxury and it ’ s everyday luxury . Yes , we ’ d all love to have 10 Balenciaga or Dior handbags , but who can afford it ? I live my life in Oroton — it ’ s beautiful quality but it ’ s accessible and they ’ re easy pieces . My daughter and I both wear it — I think there are pieces for everyone that can fit in their lifestyle . It ’ s about appreciating luxury , quality and being proud of the history of the brand . And having some spirit and not being too serious !
[ When we ] took a plunge into apparel , 90 per cent of the people in the business thought we were mad .
IR : While there have been quite a few insolvencies in the past couple of years , it seems there are some businesses that come out of VA better than before . DK : It ’ s one of those things where it ’ s a necessary evil if a business is to survive , or the whole thing closes down . There are always casualties with VA . It ’ s a legal tool that ’ s necessary , rather than having every creditor and every employee walking away from a total mess .
We rarely talk about VA now because it ’ s something that is so foreign to us now . We ’ re a whole new team with a new product and so forth . With a new owner in a private environment , VA allowed us to do anything we wanted to get the business back to being relevant again . The brief to Sophie and I was to revitalise the business and make it the best it can possibly be . VA gave us the opportunity for a fresh start .
SH : [ When ] we can come out of VA and plunged into apparel , 90 per cent of the people in the business thought we were mad . It ’ s normally a time for consolidation , it ’ s a time for being cautious , getting back to your knitting , but we had the support from the owner to take a huge leap of faith , actually go out there and make a big noticeable change to the brand at a time when you would expect a business to be cautious . We didn ’ t do that . We did the opposite .
I think that was a fundamental mindset that really gave us a great kickstart to launch us quickly out of VA . I often think back to that because it ’ s an unusual thing that we were able to do .
DK : We ’ ve been a business in the last two years that has swum against the tide . We ’ ve been in a massive investment transformation phase , setting up the foundations — our technology and apparel — so very soon , we ’ ll be ready for that next international launch .
If you look at our trade , when we closed our stores in March 2020 , we were concerned about when they ’ d ever reopen and what would happen . But like a lot of businesses , online went through the roof . We were shocked and we struggled at times to keep up with our customer orders in a timely fashion .
Then stores opened and we had significant , worrying decreases in traffic , but our conversion rates were phenomenal . If someone was prepared in that half-Covid time to go into a store , they had a real intent to purchase — they weren ’ t there to browse and shop with friends . Our conversion rates were up to 70 or 80 per cent at times and our traffic in the key CBD stores were down at similar levels , but in the suburbs , our traffic counts haven ’ t gone down — but the customer intent still went up . We ’ ve had double digit like-for-like growth in a range of stores that have been outside the Sydney and Melbourne CBDs , which has been really pleasing . We ’ ve got through very well .
We ’ re really excited about where we ’ re at now . Just two years ago , apparel was a thought in Sophie ’ s head and in the space of nine months , it was delivered into 12 boutiques . Then because of the success of those boutiques , it ’ s next season is going to be into 21 stores and online .
Apparel takes up part of the floor space that was originally allocated to accessories in our stores , so we had to shrink down our accessories offer to accommodate the arrival of apparel , but the sales per metre in the smaller area was actually much larger than it was before . Bringing in apparel has brought more people to our store , our traffic counts went through the roof and because of that , our returns in the smaller accessories space went through the roof . Now we ’ re finding people are buying the bag to go with the ►
14 | www . insideretail . com . au May 2021