In this special online series with Fordham, ragtrader.com.au sits down for five fast questions with five industry leaders. Here, the CEO of one of Australia's most celebrated exports talks business.
Camilla CEO: Jane McNally
How will Camilla close out the year from a business perspective?
The Camilla business has seen a consistent rise in revenue year-on-year and our footprint reflects this. Camilla will end the year with 20 stores nationally. Last week we launched two new boutiques, one in Castle Towers NSW and the second in Doncaster VIC and we have one more to come at Queens Plaza Brisbane this weekend. We launched our new UK and Europe transactional website last week and initial response has been very strong, with exceptional sales in the first week of trade.
What have been some of the most successful campaigns or activations?
Our biggest brand moment this year was closing Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia in May, where we presented our first truly RTW collection. Both domestic and international sales reflected the success of this show, we were picked up on Ready-to-Wear floors in Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue, a huge milestone for the brand! We also held concept stores in Harrods and Selfridges and celebrated our Resort collection in Miami.
Camilla regularly holds activations in all our boutiques to offer customers special moments of surprise and delight celebrating collections. In the coming weeks, we will be hosting activations at our three new boutiques, to celebrate our arrival in these new centres!
What are biggest growth opportunities for the brand?
Without question international expansion is our biggest growth opportunity, as we respond to strong global demand. This is supported by significant range expansions including Ready To Wear contemporary pieces and growing categories such as accessories and kids wear. We are about to get a foothold in the States, as we launch our first two boutiques in Florida and California, we are also seeing growth from Europe and the Middle East. Our mission is to colour the world and we can’t wait to welcome more people into the Camilla way of life.
What are some of the challenges and how will you overcome them?
With growth there will always be challenges, fortunately we have our creative visionary and warrior woman Camilla Franks, that in the last 18 months we have built a highly experienced executive team to guide the wider tribe through the global expansion. There are always unknowns when launching a brand in another country so we do as much research and collect as much data as possible to help us navigate any risk. A sense of humour is always important too!
What's ahead for Camilla in 2019?
International expansion! We open our first US stores in Miami and Orange County California early next year. The States has been on our radar for some time now and we can’t wait to bring the Camilla brand experience to US shores.
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