Australian label Vacay Swimwear has expanded into womenswear for the first time.
The initial range includes four bikini colourways, three linen pant colourways, and three linen skirt colourways. It adds onto the brands core range of menswear, including linen shirts, swim shorts, towelling and accessories.
Co-founders Jordan Kallios and Corey Decandia said the initial womenswear range will expand in the near future to greater swim and resortwear options.
“After six years trading as a male only brand, it was interesting to see the percentage of females ordering from our website was increasing year on year," Decandia said.
“Given females purchase a lot for their partners, we then noticed they were purchasing a lot of our unisex products, i.e. t-shirts, bucket hats, caps. It’s exciting that after 6 successful years in menswear, we will now have an offering for our increasing female audience.”
Decandia added the new range will follow the same marketing approach as its original male line, with a heavy influencer strategy, organic content and paid social advertising.
“As the demand for womenswear increases, we are looking to bring to life some exciting brand pop ups and activations around Australia,” he said. “The womenswear range will be available for purchase both online and at select retailers from October 3rd.”
The Adelaide-born brand holds 200 wholesale accounts across Australia, Europe, North America and Asia. Locally, the brand is stocked at The Iconic and David Jones.
“Currently, all retailers only stock our men’s range,” Kallios said. “However, our expansion into womenswear will allow us to target a broader range of retailers moving forward, particularly those focused on women's fashion, and is aimed to drive substantial growth in this aspect of our business.”
This comes as the brand is seeing growth in its wholesale arm, despite its online channel driving around 70% of sales. Vacay Swimwear started as a pureplay online business.
“In contrast, our wholesale segment currently contributes 30% to our overall earnings,” Kallios said. “However, the past 12 months we have seen a slight increase in our wholesale revenue, as this is an area of the business that we are working hard to grow.
“Our goal is that Vacay customers can conveniently access our products, from anywhere, at any time.”
Decandia said the launch into womenswear won’t affect its core menswear lines.
“Swim shorts are the bread and butter of our business, it’s what we’ve always known and loved, and this will certainly continue,” Decandia said. “They are the sole reason Jordan and I initially started the brand and their success over the years is what has enabled us to continue to expand the brand.
“We are happy that our male Vacay customer is now able to share their resortwear fashion with their partner and loved ones.”
Vacay Swimwear was founded in Adelaide in 2017.