Australian sleepwear brand Papinelle has just posted a 31 per cent year-on-year growth in 2026, with the brand tripling in size over the last six years at a 20 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR).
This comes as the Australian sleepwear market has surged in recent years, with many market analysts projecting it to grow decently in the short term.
Papinelle CEO John Kelly joined the brand in September 2021 and has overseen the bulk of that growth. His read on what's driven it is pretty cut and paste with the rest of the fashion industry.
“The majority of our growth has come from our direct-to-consumer business, with the lion's share through our own online sales,” he says. “We have seen good success with product market fit in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.
“The opportunity was to grow a customer base in these regions at the right cost of new customer acquisition and delivering a lifetime value that ensured sustainable profitability – 51 per cent of returning Papinelle customers purchase again within 365 days.”
Kelly says growing a profitable customer base while staying true to existing core customers tests execution and requires focus on branding and product truth, all while avoiding distraction.
He says the challenge is increasingly managing this growth economically when the majority of new customers connect with the brand through platforms like Meta, Google, and others, “which can take your journey away from our brand values and product rhythm.”
“Having teams and agencies that can constantly be on top of this and ensure we are growing while staying premium in our positioning is a constant challenge,” Kelly says.
Papinelle’s growth is similar to that of other sleepwear players in the market, especially Peter Alexander. The Solomon Lew-backed brand has also nearly tripled in size over the last several years. In the first half of FY19, Peter Alexander sales were $130.4 million, which has since grown by nearly 60 per cent between then and the first half of FY26, when sales hit $312.3 million.
According to Kelly, sleepwear looks like a simple category, but it is a difficult one to get right. Papinelle has been in the market since 2003, founded by Renae James. Over that time, management has continued to refine its product and brand positioning.
“Micro shifts in customer behaviour have created opportunities in the sleepwear and loungewear category, which our time developing expertise in the market has allowed us to capitalise on,” Kelly says. “Specific shopping occasions have developed well for us around Valentines Day, Mothers Day, Christmas and even Easter, which have become much more relevant for gift giving, family pyjamas, and themed pyjama purchases.
The brand has also executed dozens of high-value collaborations, including with Karen Walker in New Zealand, Megan Hess in Australia, and the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.
Alongside all that, some customers are also shopping for their own comfort as Papinelle focuses on natural fibres and breathable fabrics.
Kelly says there was a natural tailwind to at-home leisure and pyjamas during the COVID pandemic that had many brands “getting over the skis” – or leaning too far forward and losing control – and may not have had a genuine connection to the category.
“The brands that stuck to the fundamentals – quality product and brand integrity – have endured and capitalised on the long-term 10-year trend in the category.”
Despite the recent drag on Aussie fashion brands selling into the US market following tariffs and the slashing of the de minimis exemption, Kelly says its North American market revenue is pretty much on par in size with Australia. He says this was reached late last year, and is a big milestone considering that the US is a new market for Papinelle compared to 23 years of selling in Australia.
“We continue to see strong growth in the US this year in all our distribution channels,” he said, which include online and through the likes of Nordstrom and Anthropologie.
“Recently, Australia and New Zealand have shown an acceleration of growth as we further invest in our core markets.”
In Australia, the brand sells through its own online website and five stores across the Eastern states, as well as stockists such as David Jones.
Kelly says the next step in Papinelle’s ongoing evolution will include expanding market share in Australia and New Zealand, alongside investing in further growth in the United States.
“We are investing in our teams to ensure we can accelerate in our existing markets and allow us to take our brand and product message to new geographies,” Kelly says.
“Recently we have opened further standalone retail in Bondi and have launched a new retail design in a larger footprint store in Macquarie shopping centre in Sydney. These are stepping stones to continuing to deliver ‘Beautiful Natural Sleepwear’ to our customer base in an omni-channel environment that allows them to experience the world's best sleepwear.
“We're further investing in our digital experience in calendar year 2026 and digital content that scales and educates our customers on the breadth and quality of our product.”