Bikinis or budgie-smugglers? Tim Harcourt analyses which "b" is Australia's strongest swimwear export and offers some colourful anecdotes on the way.
Australian swimwear is so famous globally, it's now playing a role in the development of our language both here and beyond our shores. Let me explain.
Recently, an Australian traveller was caught flying from Dubai to Melbourne with two pigeons stuffed down his trousers. The strange story of this pigeon fancier - or rather pigeon smuggler - made the news internationally, much to the amusement of one of my Austrade colleagues in India. When I replied to them that "at least, he wasn't wearing 'budgie smugglers'", they became so interested in that slang term for men's swimwear that they researched it and found it mentioned on various websites promoting Australian products - even in India.
But it's not just the old budgie smugglers that have got the world's attention in the Australian swimwear stakes. High to middle-end labels such as Seafolly, Zimmermann and new players like Hotel Bondi are making a big splash among women's fashions. Board shorts made by Rip Curl and Billabong are seen everywhere from Paris to Peru. And no swimwear exports article could be published without mention of Australia's cheekiest export brand, Aussiebum, which goes from strength to strength with their unique online distribution technique.
The high-profile of Australian swimwear brands is not unexpected given our strong identification with the beach and there is evidence that this brand status does affect the bottom line. For example, when The Diplomat magazine first undertook a survey of Australia's most profitable global businesses, Billabong was found to have made more income offshore than Westpac. Board shorts may symbolise a laid-back casual lifestyle but they are also a serious global business for Australia.
However, when looking at the export data, it's bikinis where the action lies. In fact, when you compare the exports of women's swimwear with men's, the girls are continuing to catch the boys with their pants down. Women's swimwear exports outrank men's by a ration of around 12:1 and make up the lion's share of Australia's swimwear exports of around $13.5 million. Key export markets are mainly developed country markets like New Zealand, Canada, Netherlands, UK, Switzerland, Singapore and the US but with emerging markets such as the United Arab Emirates, China and Indonesia also racing up the charts.
Is the girl's victory unexpected? Not really, given that swimwear is well and truly part of the fashion industry and there's a great range of styles and innovation in the girl's camp. Actually, the results are very similar to a survey I did for Ragtrader previously on the export of underwear, which again, showed the girls beating the pants off the boys. To improve on their performance, the boys will have to pull up their socks (which is the only thing left the have to pull up, on the evidence so far).
But mention has to be made of the changed conditions in the global economy. Now that the global economic tide has gone out, how will that affect things in the industry? Will the global financial crisis affect swimwear or is the iconic Aussie cossie recession proof?
Some industry figures are optimistic. Anthony Halas of the well known Australian family business Seafolly has commented that swimwear "is recession proof as it is a low-cost item". Zimmermann too, seems to be faring well. Despite the desperate state of the US economy, sales in the US have doubled over the past 12 months with American retail giants such as Barneys, Bloomingdales and Saks all stocking the product. And Aussiebum's Sean Ashby is also taking his business into China after some good coverage during the Beijing OlymSo when everyone else is losing their pants in these times of global financial distress, it's good to know that Australians can at least be reassured that our world renowned Aussie swimwear has got us covered.
As for the pigeons, let's hope that the term 'budgie-smuggler' remains the only term we get for men's swimming briefs in the Australian English dictionary from now on.