Freshly launched Australian business LuxeHorse has secured the rights to be the sole Australian distributor of the latest Boss Equestrian range.
Designed specifically for horse riders, the apparel, footwear and accessories range covering 56 items will be exclusively launched by LuxeHorse next month at Equitana in Melbourne - the largest equestrian event in the Southern Hemisphere - from November 14 to 17. It will then be available to buy online.
The new range includes jackets, tops and bottoms, as well as equestrian-specific accessories such as riding gloves, saddle pads and a fly veil.
Speaking with Ragtrader, LuxeHorse founder and director Mary-Anne Lowe said the deal with Boss was struck from an initial LinkedIn connection request, and took two weeks to complete.
“I had a conversation with someone at the end of July, and they said they'd seen this amazing range,” she said.
Lowe then began thinking about how it would be great to have some type of business that can showcase and sell all this stuff in Australia.
“I looked for the range online, and couldn't find it anywhere,” Lowe continued. “Basically, I went down a few rabbit holes and found the contact on LinkedIn for someone who is actually the designer of the licence agent over in Germany.
“I just happened to send her a LinkedIn message and said, ‘Hey, I'm from Australia. This is what I'm looking at…’ and literally within days, I had been contacted by the guys who are the licenceholder worldwide, set up an online meeting probably three or four days after that. This is within two weeks of my initial idea.
“Two days after the meeting, I had a contract for an exclusive agreement signed, and then seven days later, there was a shipment on the way to Australia for the launch of Equitana. It's literally been that quick.”
Lowe has an extensive background in the wedding events industry, and became involved in the equestrian space for the last few years as her daughter rides at a national Interschool level. Lowe is currently the chairperson of Interschool Victoria.
With the Boss goods now in Australia, Lowe is anxiously waiting until mid-November when the range will be officially sold online for the first time in Australia following the in-person launch at Equitana in Melbourne.
Despite the wait, Lowe is already seeing demand from those signing up to her website thanks to a competition where customers who sign up to the VIP list can win a $1,000 Boss Equestrian wardrobe.
Within the first few days, 500 people had signed up since launching the online portal last week.
“We are very lucky because of the brand that it is. We basically have access to all that beautiful imagery and videos and content and worldwide equestrian Olympians from all over Europe that are attached to this brand, but it's all brand new here.
“It’s such an exciting time for this to enter the Australian market, because there's just nothing else like it.”
From the official launch online, Lowe will seek out retailers across Australia to distribute and sell the range too. She will also seek out further distribution deals with other global brands.
Early next year, Lowe confirmed she will be travelling to Germany to attend a major worldwide equestrian distributor event that happens in Cologne every year.
“That's where they basically do the worldwide fashion shows of all the brands, many of which we don't see here,” Lowe said.
“We have to move with this quickly, because we've seen how quickly it's been from conception to where we are already.”
The ultimate aim, according to Lowe, is to become a local distributor for a number of luxury brands that are selling things like Boss Equestrian that can’t be generally bought here.
“Because of the location of Australia, as I'm sure you know, with things coming out of Europe, there's not always a market here and people willing to take it on, because it's expensive to get it here. There's a lot of customs, a lot of taxes, there's a lot of shipping, and the logistics of it. You're literally bringing in a container,” Lowe said.
“So we're looking at doing additional brands in time to come, depending on how this one lands. But we've already got our next collection [with Boss] pre-ordered, and it'll be here in February. So I'm very confident that the brand will be loved here.”