Australian activewear label Sōlo the Staple launched amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Founder Alicia Superina reveals how she had to adapt to the rapidly changing circumstances while trying to get the business up and running.
In hindsight, I inadvertently chose the worst possible time to launch an online business.
When it came to picking my launch date, I based my decision on when my stock was due to arrive in Adelaide.
The shipment was due at the end of January 2020, so I logically thought that February would be the perfect time to launch.
Next, I needed to choose a launch day. I decided to play on the theme of Valentine’s Day and the concept of self-love.
In the search for happiness, self-love is the single most important quality to master; mind, body and soul. Boom! I decided that the 14th of February at 1pm would be the big moment for sōlo the staple.
When we launched, the response was amazing. Orders were flying in thick and fast.
I wasn’t expecting the response to be so huge so soon after launching. I wish I had memories of popping champagne bottles in my office and confetti guns blasting to celebrate our launch.
Instead, my memories are of me laying on the floor of my warehouse with boxes all around me, barefoot and still finalising my website inventory, yelling at my laptop, “hang on! I’m not ready!” as the website pinged non-stop with new orders.
Nonetheless, it was an amazing feeling. All my hard work leading up to this moment had paid off and people from all over the world were choosing to buy my bodysuits.
As quickly as the excitement of the launch hit, coronavirus arrived with a bang.
I was so incredibly lucky – and by lucky, I mean extremely lucky – that my first order of stock arrived a few weeks before all the factories closed down.
I had plenty of stock on hand to get me through a few months’ worth of sales. At the same time, I was sad to hear of other businesses that weren’t so fortunate.
As I hadn’t yet finalised my Series 2 collection, I made the risky decision to reorder a repeat of Series 1 in advance.
My thought process was that when factories reopened, my reorder of Series 1 stock could be made and delivered – and I would then have a sufficient amount of stock to get me through until Series 2 could be launched.
With this second stock order due to arrive in the coming weeks, the decision to reorder Series 1 has worked out for me, as we have begun to sell out of several pieces.
With gyms and studios closing their doors, home gyms on loungeroom floors and in backyards have become the new place to sweat.
Activewear is thankfully one item of clothing that many people are still wearing and purchasing instead of their workplace attire.
Because of this, sales are continuing for sōlo, albeit not with their initial intensity.
That said, our bodysuits (which are the heart of sōlo) remain our top selling item as our clients swap their Pilates reformer workout for the skateboard workout.
Each industry is unfortunately going through its own specific set of challenges.
For me, I strongly believe that we are all in this together. I am here for each and every one of my customers and insist on packing all of our orders myself.
I love to write a personalised card to all of the women who purchase sōlo, and will personally respond to emails from our customers.
I know that when we go back to some semblance of normality (whatever that may be) and many of our customers return to their favourite gyms and studios, we (myself included) will want some new activewear.
I’ll be proud to be the one to fulfil this demand, anywhere in the world.
Despite launching my online fashion label at the worst possible time, I firmly believe that sōlo will ride out this tough time – but not without putting in the hard yards along the way.