Sweet as Hannii

Melbourne label Hannii combines the commercial acumen of a chain store with a boutique sensibility, as Belinda Smart reports.

Walking from a Melbourne street into a Hannii store is a little like stepping into the Orient.
The store fit out - featuring red and earth-toned walls, dark wood and clean lines - is strongly in keeping with the styling of the clothes, which their designer and Hannii founder Hanny Chan describes as "contemporary with a strong oriental influence".
"I like to work with different finishes and colours and I think the clothes have a strong element of textural richness," claims Chan, adding the unique look of the collection is targeted at women between 25 and 45 "who know what suits them".
In other words, women who often shop at boutiques, in search of clothing with an edge and would no doubt appreciate Hannii's relatively modest price points.
The Zen top - a signature Hannii garment which Chan describes as "very Japanese in influence, based around the concept of the [Japanese belt] obi and flexible enough to dress up or down" - retails at around $250. Pants retail for around $200 and dresses for around $400 to 500, although Chan recently introduced an exclusive highly finished frock priced at $950.
Chan first launched the label in 1998, having completed a Bachelors degree in business management, followed by a stint working for a manufacturing company as a production scheduler and a two-year course at the Melbourne School of Fashion.
From the outset she took a methodical approach that left nothing to chance.
"By the time I launched I'd done a great deal of research into finding a gap in the market. I also carefully researched the location of sites for the stores, the branding of the product right down to the smallest details such as how the swing tags should look," she explains.
The result of her endeavours is a vertically integrated company, in which concept design, manufacturing, retail and wholesale are seamlessly linked.
Hannii operates three retail outlets; one in Melbourne's famed fashion strip Chapel Street, one in CBD shopping centre Melbourne Central and one in central fashion precinct Howie Place.
While the label also wholesales to selected boutiques in Canberra, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth, Chan's current focus is to "fine-tune" the retail system.
"It's about creating the right product at the right price and getting the product mix right. For example if I design a beautiful top, it's important to ensure there are pants or a skirt that will co-ordinate with it," she explains.
As the company expands, producing the garments efficiently without losing the brand's signature style is also a challenge, she concedes.
"The garments have a unique and complex structure and we're trying to systematize production without compromising that."
Hannii is manufactured in Melbourne - using imported fabrics from India and Europe - at Chan's studio in Little Latrobe Street, where the whole design process from initial concept to sample to finished product takes place.
The studio employs around five "highly committed" staff, including design, administration and production personnel.
"In terms of the production personnel, it's vital that they have the relevant experience and basic competencies, but they must also be passionate and share my vision. I run the team around a very flat structure and there's a good team spirit, which I think helps keep staff motivated."
Chan also employs 12 retail staff - who undergo ongoing training as often as once a month to ensure they understand how garments should be worn.
She operates a bonus scheme for store managers and keeps all staff loyal by offering them a salary over and above the market rate.
"I also think it's important to empower them so they have a sense of ownership of the company," she adds.
Hannii brings out three collections a year; for summer, winter and second winter, and with fresh styles appearing in store every two or three weeks, stock replenishment is a constant challenge.
However, Chan's formula of boutique stock at mass market price points seems to be working, and with interest in the label growing from interstate and overseas customers, she is currently looking at potential sites for a retail expansion into Sydney.
"We get a large number of Sydney-based customers visiting the stores on weekend trips and there seems to be a huge demand for the product," she explains.
Hannii also has a small but steadily growing presence overseas; earlier this year a Singapore retailer with four outlets placed the label's biggest single order yet and Chan is also researching export opportunities in the Middle East.
For a comparatively young label, Hannii is making serious waves. But Chan maintains retail was always part of a business plan as rigorously detailed as the clothes themselves.
As far as she is concerned, her success is no fluke.
"A lot of the people I studied fashion with had a burning desire to become designers and have their own label, but it's very competitive out there. There are so many players in the market that if you don't have a clear plan and a product that stands out it's hard to succeed."