The CEO of Honey Birdette, Kim Kidd, has reported that the Australian lingerie brand’s sales doubled globally on Valentine's Day this year across both online and retail channels
“We set new benchmarks in every region, surpassing expectations on all fronts,” Kidd told Ragtrader.
“We did everything differently. 2024 was a year of transformation – learning, resetting, and defining our future strategy.”
Honey Birdette launched Valentine’s Day with a bold campaign shot in Los Angeles. Kidd said the campaign put the brand’s product front and centre. Public relations, influencers and events also played a key role in the sales uplift
“We hosted two exclusive events in Sydney and Miami alongside a strategic, global gifting strategy. We had waitlists for collections before they even dropped.”
The lift in sales follows a challenging 2024, when the brand was set to be sold by its parent company PLBY Group. In January 2024, PLBY Group CEO Ben Kohn said that, in the long term, “Honey Birdette doesn’t belong as part of this company”. He added that at the right time, PLBY would sell it.
For the first quarter of 2024, Kohn said Honey Birdette recorded a second consecutive quarter of positive sales growth, adding that the time was then right to actively seek a new partner or owner of the lingerie brand.
For the second quarter, Honey Birdette revenue decreased by US$3.8 million, or 21 per cent year-over-year, largely due to an approximately 50 per cent reduction in the number of days on sale as the company focused on brand health and gross margin.
A few months later, PLBY Group listed Honey Birdette as a “discontinued operation” for the third quarter of 2024. This meant that all financial and operational figures presented in its third quarter report excluded any statistics from the Honey Birdette business.
Then, in early 2025, PLBY changed tune on the lingerie brand and decided to retain its ownership after the many months of attempting to sell. This was thanks to a reported improvement in PLBY’s balance sheet after successfully closing a long-term license agreement with an online entertainment business called Byborg Enterprises alongside “meaningful improvements” in operational metrics at Honey Birdette.
“At the heart of everything we do is our product,” Kidd said. “Our designers curated a [Valentine’s Day] collection that catered to every customer, whether they were shopping for themselves or someone special. From black lace sets and red push-ups to a hot pink bondage collection, toys, and robes.”
The other key aspect, according to Kidd, was focusing on customers, offering fast deliveries, wide size ranges, and gifting. The latter included in-store surprises such as gifting hundreds of red roses in its LA boutiques over Valentine’s Day week.
Kidd said there was a surge in demand for statement pieces such as ‘Jasmin’ - a hot pink bondage collection – with its sheer, rose embroidered bodysuit called ‘Rosa’ sold out in just days.
“We are continually pushing boundaries across stores and online - however this Valentine’s, we focused on ensuring both channels worked seamlessly together.”
PLBY Group is expected to release its fourth quarter and full-year 2024 results in late March.