ted her next move. To meet the mark, Deering is rewriting her own retail playbook and taking a different yet strategic approach to building a brand and, ultimately, a world. Every touchpoint of her new venture has been considered through the lens of what worked for her previous business – the wildly successful swimwear brand, Triangl – and what will work for her new brand now. At a time when retail margins are shrinking, competition is intensifying and consumer expectations are rapidly changing, Deering is building a brand centred on capsule collections, desirable merch, lifestyle collaborations and non-influencer influencers. Inside Retail spoke to Deering while she was travelling for work in New York to discuss what it takes to scale a fashion brand today from the ground up. Starting her second act When Deering left her swimwear label Triangl at its peak in 2016, she infamously swore never to return to fashion, but nearly a decade later, she’s making a comeback. “I definitely was very clear that I would never do another brand. I think ‘never, ever’ were my words,” Deering recalled. However, this time around, everything is different, not only within the business but also in the external landscape. “I don’t have a co-founder this time, so that’s a very different dynamic, which, to be honest, isn’t always great,” Deering said. “A co-founder is definitely an amazing person to constantly spar with and have that back and forth over ideas. “When you’re doing it all on your own, you’re actually doing it all on your own, which can be really lonely.” Now, nearly eight months out from launching the brand, Deering revealed that she is still navigating this and figuring out her role within the business. “I have a good team, so I’m not doing it all on my own, but the operational side and the financial side I’m really looking forward to passing over completely at some point – then I will want to focus on creative direction,” she added. Deering doesn’t like to refer to herself as a founder or entrepreneur, even though she has the CV to back it up. Instead, she leans towards the title of ‘creative director’, which is reflective of her day-to-day work at her fashion brand. “If I’m not doing the creative direction, no one else is doing it,” she stated. “If you don’t have creative direction at the forefront of your business, then you’re not going to have a business that can scale or find a loyal following. That part of the brand is exactly what people are drawn to, the creative side of it.” Finding that signature detail The faster brands launch new collections, the greater the risk of previous collections not selling out and having to discount old stock – potentially lowering the perceived and tangible value of the brand. This has led many emerging fashion brands today, including Deering, to work on a drop model, where a new collection is released every quarter. It acts like a capsule wardrobe, minus the minimalism and neutrals that have become synonymous with the concept. “I’m not a huge fan of consumerism without understanding your personal style, if that makes sense,” Deering explained. “What we’re putting out there is pieces that have a bit of longevity to them but aren’t boring.” Deering straddles seasonal and seasonless dressing with every collection. She has made an art of appealing to her local and global customers. More importantly, this model appeals to the kind of customer Deering is going after: Someone who wants to buy elevated daywear that can carry them through every setting, whether it be professional or social. Her collections feature sparkly mesh tops, embellished dress shirts, sequin fringe skirts, contrast stitched vests and slouchy oversized trousers, with garments ranging in price from $120 to $800. Deering knows how to reach her customer because she is her ideal customer. “When I see a piece, if it has something a little bit extra about it, then I want it – whether that’s a different texture, a colour combination that isn’t often seen, a little design detail or a little bit of flair,” Deering explained. “Every Deering piece has that, and I aim to continue to have every Deering piece have that,” she added. What Deering aims to offer customers – and what any successful brand must offer customers in an oversaturated fashion landscape – is taste and curation. Fashion brands have been experimenting with drop models for years. Wardrobe NYC, founded by Australians Josh Goot and Christine Centenera and based in New York, built a name for itself in late 2017 with its capsule collections, where consumers had to buy five-piece or 10-piece wardrobes. “Every brand has these different drop models now, and it can be really confusing for the customer, so we’re taking our time with building that model out,” Deering said. “But we’re having that consistency and that clarity because our drops are only four times a year and [happening] at the same times, so the customer is aware when a collection is coming,” she added. Passing the merch test Beyond the quarterly collections that consist of apparel and fashion pieces, Deering is also leaning heavily into accessories, primarily footwear, which is a category the brand founder believes has room to scale. “A multi-category brand is crucial, especially if you want to scale it globally – or even if you want to scale a brand at all, you need to be multi-category,” Deering stated. “I’m working on a few things at the moment that sound like a total deviation, but it actually is really harmonious with an apparel brand these days.” From Deering’s perspective, the apparel industry’s peak was in the ’90s and ’00s but since then beauty has taken over, leaving fashion behind. “Everyone’s talking about beauty brands but I think there’s a place for both, and I think that any brand in today’s climate really needs to be a [lifestyle] brand,” Deering said. “Then all the things that fall under that are the things that people are buying because they just love your brand so much, they’re buying into your brand.” While her label today is ultimately a fashion brand, Deering is trying to build it into a world where a diverse range of products across multiple categories sit neatly under one name. “I’m trying to build a brand first and foremost, and I’m just banking that the customer needs what I’m going to be able to give her…I can see some gaps in a few different industries that I want to fill,” Deering said. She hinted that health, wellness and beauty are all things she has in the brand’s pipeline. One way Deering is starting to position her brand as a lifestyle brand is through merchandise: big tees, embroidered caps, day socks and cotton shorts. “I think it’s great entry-level positioning for a brand. I think it’s a good way for people to get involved and talk about your messaging,” Deering explained. “We’re looking at doing more of a loungewear offering this year, so it’ll move into that – I think it’s really important.” One fashion brand that has had immense success positioning itself in the cultural zeitgeist through merchandise is the US label Sporty & Rich. What started out as a moodboard Instagram account founded by Emily Oberg is now an established brand that has collaborated with the likes of Lacoste, Adidas, The Carlyle Hotel and UCLA. “Merch is part and parcel for every brand now, everyone has merch and I love that,” Deering stated. “I think that people do want to attach some emotional connection to what they’re wearing and what they’re doing and what they’re buying and what they’re experiencing and feeling.” Deering’s first lifestyle partnership is with Fitzroy-based hotel StandardX, where she has designed a limited-edition merch drop of shirts, a cap and a bag, to celebrate both brands’ love of their hometown of Melbourne. The collaboration isn’t a pure fashion offering, it’s a way for Deering to show up in the places where her customers live. She can’t be influenced Deering’s marketing chops are well known and praised – after all, she is the woman who convinced a generation that neoprene fluorescent bikinis were the move. This time, however, Deering and her eponymous label are taking a more subtle and “slow burn” approach when it comes to influencing. “With my previous business that was obviously hard and fast, I think we were the pioneers of influencer marketing,” Deering stated. “Whereas, it’s not as much of a focus for Deering, because I really want to find our customer and I don’t want to alienate her in these early days.” In past interviews, Deering credited Triangl’s success to the ‘Kendall Jennereffect’ – where she strategically gifted products to Jenner’s lesser-known friends at the time, including Bella Hadid and Hailey Bieber, in the hopes of Jenner requesting bikinis, which she did. Pia Mance, the founder of LA-based accessories label Heaven Mayhem, recently adopted the same playbook to win over Hailey Bieber and scale her brand from US$900 to seven-figures. Deering understands the power of influence maybe more than anyone – after all, she used it to scale her bikini brand to a $200 million valuation – but she doesn’t see it as the most authentic strategy this time around. “My hesitation with using influencers too often, especially as an early brand, is that it doesn’t have that authentic lineup,” Deering shared. “You might be putting the brand on people that don’t actually align with your customer, and therefore you are alienating your customer, or you are bringing in the wrong customer for the brand that you want to be building. “I’m not saying that I will never do influencer marketing. It’s just not really in the strategy at the moment.” Instead of implementing a widespread gifting strategy, Deering is opting to build relationships with friends of the brand by dressing select individuals. “My focus is growing a community through our customers, because they’re the ones I think deserve the most attention from us,” Deering stated. “We have some incredible customers who have been with us from the very beginning and are so loyal to the brand – and I want to look after them first.” Right now, Deering is only serving her customers online, direct-to-consumer but she has plans to open the brand’s first Melbourne store in September this year. “I think the brands I look up to the most have taken years to build, and we are only six months old, so I’m happy to take my time with building those relationships,” Deering concluded. “Our customers have power and influence, they really do. We must look after them.”