The move comes two months after upmarket streetwear label Friedrich Gray announced it was temporarily ceasing production, with founder Ben Pollitt crediting the move to financial pressures in the local fashion industry.
Levack said the decision to sell Hotel Bondi followed years of dedicated brand building; including iconography, logo development, an Australian Fashion Week launch showcase, a hard cover book shot by Derek Henderson, e-commerce design and installation, extensive media and PR strategies as well as the procurement of premium retail partners such as David Jones.
“We believe stage two requires another entity that specialises in manufacture, sales and distribution,” Levack said. “This is not our specialty or area of expertise. We always anticipated either finding an investor or selling the brand once it had developed its identity - it has happened sooner than we planned but its definitely time for someone else to get involved.”
The impending sale follows Levack and Fuller’s recent relocation to the US, with Fuller currently occupying a management position at iconic watch company Nixon (California). While the brand has been stocked in leading department stores and boutiques across the world, the relocation has seen greater emphasis on its online division.
“Hotel Bondi is running mainly as an online business,” Levack said. “Most of our customers are in Australia so it has been tricky managing the online stock and store. It is always preferable to be personally overseeing any operations of a small business.”
The company currently caps its orders at between $200,000 to $300,000 per season due to limited working capital. Levack believes established infastructure would allow the brand to grow and meet demand from new customers. This is not the first time a business founded by Levack and Fuller has gone up for sale, with Kitten sold to a Melbourne-based fashion group in 2006. Kitten was sold globally to stockists such as Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Henri Bendels, Patricia Fields, General Pants and David Jones.
Levack said the pair were looking to recoup a substantial part of their initial $300,000 investment in the launch of Hotel Bondi. Levack anticipates a sale by the end of this calender year.
“This is a well established brand with a huge amount of industry recognition attached to it,” she said. “The editorial exposure it has generated in its first few seasons is staggering. I look at it as the brand is like a racehorse we have bred and trained to precision that is now ready for the start gates.”
Assia Benmedjdoub