Dreaming of starting your own retail brand? Here’s some tips from co-creator and director of Nique, Nick Ennis.
“I literally walked out on my job at an advertising agency and never looked back,” says Nick Ennis. “That was when Lucy and I were in our early twenties, and we’re now both nearly 40. Nique has been our life for the past 18 years.”
In 1998, Nick Ennis and his now-wife Lucy dared to drop their current jobs and start a creative agency that placed them in an industry they were passionate about – music. Nique took its first breath as a design studio in Melbourne; its niche was graphics and marketing material (flyers, street art, animated emails etc.) for electronic touring acts. However, not long after its beginning, the focus of the brand shifted.
“[The fashion] started as a side project. We wanted to contribute to the fashion side of the music industry in some way, but before we knew it we had a collection that was flying off the shelves. Nique then morphed into a fashion brand, pretty organically, really,” explains Ennis.
After 2003, the graphic-design element of the brand was phased out to focus purely on the clothing side of things. The brand moved into wholesale and was distributed in almost 150 stores across Australia. It then crossed borders to feature in retail markets in New Zealand and Northern Europe, while it commenced its mission to role out stand-alone retail stores within Australia.
“We saw the writing on the wall with the shrinking Australian wholesale market, so we took a risk; we established eight stores and it’s the best thing we have ever done. They now earn more than 90 per cent of our revenue,” states Ennis.
With Lucy and Nick currently on the brink of rolling out their next Nique chapter in the United States, we asked Nick for the secrets behind their success and some pointers on what it takes to start a fashion label in the current retail environment.
1. Jump in
“It’s all about momentum. If you don’t start, you’re never going to go anywhere, obviously, so get into a flow and build up that momentum. Research your market, have confidence in your brand and just give it a good swing.”
2. Find a balance
“The hardest thing in fashion retail is balancing creativity and business, especially when you’re a creative person yourself. You have to own two hats and decide which one to wear depending on the weather. It’s a challenge, but it’s really important.”
3. Master multi-channeling
“From a store’s aesthetics and website design, to swing tags and carry bags, every point of contact with the customer needs to be right on brand.”
4. Stay true, but evolve
“Our four As (authentic, acidic, articulate and accessible) are at our core, always. People want to know you stand for something; they want something to believe in. If you keep changing your mission, you dilute your message, but then, you also need to stay relevant. Again, it’s a balancing act.”
“I think what’s got us through is keeping our core principles front of mind. We’re a lifestyle brand for inner-city creative professionals: architects, writers, media personnel, lovers of design and electronic music. But we’re not slaves to runway fashion. Our products are designed to be relevant seasons after they were bought.”
5. Be prepared for a challenge
“Remember it’s the rag trade and that in itself is a hurdle. The fashion world is always changing, so there are continual challenges that make work complex and difficult, but that’s why I love it. The past five years have been insane in this field, but there’s a real thrill that comes out of being able to navigate it.”
