Sisters dive straight in and flourish
GOLD Coast sisters Vrindy and Ramana Benson began their swimwear line when they couldn’t find “flattering” bikinis so decided to design their own.
Three years later and their company, Lahana Swim, turned over $2 million in the past financial year, and they are targeting a fivefold increase by 2023.
The fast-paced fashion game, where a new line comes out every month, is not where you would expect two girls raised in the ascetic Hare Krishna religion to end up.
However, they say the industry suits them perfectly by enabling them to leave the nine-to-five grind and also empower women.
Vrindy, 24, and Ramana, 25, drew up their first design in 2015, and after a favourable response on Instagram, visited Bali the following year for six weeks on a scouting mission.
There they engaged manufacturer Wanita Swimwear to produce their first order, worth just $3000.
After coming back home, they hired a model and photographer to do their first shoot on the Sunshine Coast.
“We used metallic tones, stuff that was not on the mar- ket yet, beautiful gold shades, and that campaign went viral through Instagram. That was the key tool for getting our name out there,” Vrindy said.
“The designs are super cheeky, they make people go, ‘where did you get that from?’,”added Ramana.
The Lahana Swim business (Lahana means tribe, according to the girls) was born, and quickly gained traction.
Bikinis were sent to socalled “influencers” on social media, in the hope they would post a picture wearing one of the girls’ designs.
“Everything moved really fast,” Vrindy said. “Girls went crazy for our designs.
“We then moved to the Sunshine Coast and quit our jobs. We said that when we were making $100 a day – making a sale a day – we would quit our hospitality jobs and put all our energy into Lahana Swim. From 6am to 10pm we were then on social media promoting our brand.”
The girls credit the immense work on social media with helping to create a successful brand.
The other aspect was to use materials that were not commonplace in the industry, such as ruched fabric.
“We started doing that in 2016 and companies all over the world are now using those designs,” Vrindy said.
Lahana Swim has two main ranges, comprising a luxury range, selling for $180 a set, and made in Bali, and a “minimal”range, made in China, and retailing for $100.
But they say they can’t afford to slow down, and must keep ahead of the trends. It used to be the case that fashion lines would come out once a season, but now it is monthly.
“It is fast fashion. We like to change our swimwear, weekly almost, on the Gold Coast,” Vridny said.
About nine months ago the Lahana Swim base was moved to a three-level commercial property in Molendinar, where the girls have 11 staff.
The US online store launches next week.
Business consultant Michael Yacoub has been working with Vrindy and Ramana for the past nine months, and said he believes their business has a strong future.