THE FRIDAY INTERVIEW: STEVE PHILPOTT OF BOND-EYE AUSTRALIA

This Friday we chat to Steve Philpott, founder and CEO of Bond-Eye Australia, about the family of brands which now includes Artesands and Sea Level as well as the eponymous Bond-Eye. In another life he believes he would have been a marine biologist but has no regrets about the journey that brought him to establishing an internationally successful swimwear business. His is an inspirational story about working your way from the bottom up.

Life before Bond-Eye?

I did a Geography/Biology major on the way to becoming a Marine Biologist. I graduated with my first degree and was on a plane out of there for a few weeks in Hawaii to surf. I ended up staying months longer than planned and came back to do a public service exam, with a view to a simultaneous Honours Degree. It was this career pathway that seemed the only way to get into marine and environmental sciences but it didn’t appeal to me. Add the freedom of what I had experienced in Hawaii and my drive to make things happen led me to make a big decision and to try and get myself into the Fashion Industry. I was always inspired by my dad and his work ethic, who came into an office furniture business with nothing and created something very special by the time it was sold. This ethic of hard work and going for it has been an ingrained part of my DNA.

How did you get into the retail industry, and what are some of the different roles you’ve held along the way? 

I painted and landscaped my way through a year or so and then I decided to try and be a sales rep. The people interviewing me liked me but I never got any of the jobs I went for as I had no experience. I took a job at a textile company in the warehouse unloading rolls of fabric, stacking them and winding off meterage for their accounts. 3 months later, I received a phone call from a Fashion Agent who I had been interviewed by 4 or so months earlier. He said “Do you still want the job son”? I said yes and he told me to resign that Friday and turn up in 2 weeks. As I walked through the office door, he threw a set of car keys off me and said, “go home and pack your bags, you’re going bush”. I had no idea what he was talking about but we downstairs in Sydney’s garment district underneath the building to a much loved/beat up white van. He proceeded to open the doors to reveal a lot of old stock from denim, men’s and women’s knitwear, kids duffel coats and some women’s swimwear. He gave me a map of NSW, my home state, telling me to drive up to the Queensland border and cover the entire state, stopping in every town and selling the stock. He gave me a map of Victoria and told me not to come back until it was sold!

It was the two years I spent where I learned how to sell and about the industry. I didn’t end up needing the Victoria map that trip and made it back by the Friday having been to towns I had never heard of and emptying the van. I learned the fundamental law of sales and selling over the next two years and that is to build genuine relationships.  Strong product helps though not always possible and definitely not on that trip! Integrity and a sense of legitimate and honest connection are worth its weight in gold.

I lived in Europe for 8 or so months after leaving that job and came back wanting to find out about other the parts of the fashion industry. I took a job as assistant production manager in a well- established fashion company, working in the warehouse getting out orders for 6 months or so which was a good learning experience. I then took a job at Running Bare, a leading Australian activewear brand as a sales rep, leaving 13 years later as a 20% shareholder and the design, sales and marketing director. I learned so much at Running Bare including about fibres and fabric innovation and look back on this time with great fondness.

I went back to Europe in the period of non-compete, contemplating what to do next. It was on a ferry in 2004 between Dubrovnik and an island when I came up with Bond-Eye as a brand name. In 2005, we launched our first collection and began a tumultuous journey of joy, freedom, creativity and the hard lessons of running a business.

Tell us about the Bond-Eye brands

Bond-Eye is my first brand and is fashion swimwear working very closely with the inventor of the original Crinkle fabric. Sold by the world’s best retailers, the brand is now expanding into RTW and has a cult following globally.

Sea Level is a swim specialist lifestyle brand with beautiful structured fashion swim offer to fit all shapes with a strong Resortwear component. The brand was first launched in 2018 and has since carved out a place globally as a go to fashion swim brand.

Artesands is a brand focused on fitting curves impeccably with a unique handwriting and DNA also with a Resortwear component.

And developments in these brands I should know about…

Bond-Eye’s continued ownership of the best crinkle brand status and the innovations we are surprising the market with – the expansion into RTW has enjoyed a very strong market reception

Sea Level’s rising dominance as a leading fashion swim specialist brand and its resortwear offer is becoming a very significant part of the brand offer and revenue.

Arrtesand’s move into Crinkle and the brand’s offer of Crinkle to larger sizes is gaining market traction and the resortwear has been received well.

What are their biggest markets and your target markets for each of the brands?

The US is our biggest market; it was where I focused on first. We have consolidated a very strong market position in North America and are now turning our focus to Europe and the UK. Our brands are now sold in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Greece, Benelux, Scandinavia, Poland, Croatia and the Baltic States. Asia is our backyard and we are also selling into several markets now with a view to significant expansion here.

Your proudest moment to date?

 It is very difficult to pick just one as there are many. Having the world’s best retailers stocking our brands and utilising our content which we take great pride in is a very satisfying feeling. I know what it takes at all levels of a business for a brand to arrive at a special market threshold with alignment of so many factors and stakeholders that come together in harmony. It’s no easy feat to create and maintain but it is an incredible humbling and inspirational feeling and energy.

 Your biggest mistake?

I have made so many mistakes and there is always an upside here. The bigger the mistake, the faster and more I have learned. I think in the beginning, I was all about design and delivering a beautiful product. I wasn’t financially astute and suffered greatly, working huge hours and living on next to nothing for several years. It was a necessary period of grafting and hustling… pain is the teacher…

I also trusted in the goodness of people and made some costly poor choices. Again, we live and learn.

What are your greatest challenges? 

I think cash flow for any growing business is always a challenge. We have grown approx 300% in the last few years and presently consolidating our market position, our processes, our HR alignment and the finance which will allow the execution of our Business Plan into the future. The challenge is also the opportunity and strong brands inside well-structured companies with integrity of values will always rise to the top.

That said, I remember clearly on the outbreak of COVID – there was a week in March 2020 where I had over AUD 10 million worth or orders cancelled. Everything made or being finalised. I had 4 x 40 foot containers that had cleared Customs in Long Beach California the day before I got the phone call. After the initial shell shock that everybody globally went through, we found our way through.

A Typical Week in your life 

It starts on Sunday night with a family dinner. First thing in every day is coffee, a habit I am happy with.  I try and start the week on the front foot on Monday with a clear plan of what I want to achieve. I have my regular meetings with the management, finance, sales and brand teams and I build in time to get my strategic work done. It’s not always possible to build creative workspace into the week and I find when I know I need to this, I block my diary and steal it. I will find my way into the ocean 2-3 times per week, sometime before work teaching my youngest son to surf. I realise how important it is to have balance for mental and physical health and so my best to build this into my diary. Having family connection is also important and being home for dinner most nights is also important. Turning the lap top and phone off before it gets too late is an absolute necessity for sleep.

Those Special Moments in your career

Having created something that is recognized and loved by many, something that has enabled me to live an incredible journey, bring a lot of people on it with me and make a difference in our small way to the world we live in.

Other highlights: my first trip after Covid was to Greece for a holiday and to meet with our Distributor around the Splash Paris Show. I was staying on Mykonos and saw bond-eye hanging in the best fashion stores and being worn on the beaches and in the day clubs and it was a beautiful realisation that we had a very amazing and desirable brand here. I felt a unique sense of humility, validation and inspiration. I recall this first trip back and the shows we did in Miami and Paris and what a joy it was to hug our sales teams and accounts. To meet again face to face was just a very simple and beautiful thing.

Having Beyoncé wear a white lace Robyn Lawley swimsuit we designed and the having Robyn herself open the catwalk show across The W pool at Miami Swim Week.

“It’s as simple as being at the beach at Bondi and seeing women wearing our swimwear”

The one product you cannot live without. 

Hmmmm… I want to say red wine but I’m trying to cut back on that… maybe it’s my phone as it’s my connection to literally everything and everyone. A sign of the times and just how dependent we have become. If nature can be a product, that is where I find my balance and would not be the same without it.

Time out?

Family, surfing, exercise, socialising, cooking.

Pet Hate?

Politics and the way the negative sides of human nature and ego always seem to prevail at the expense of the majority and the innocent.