BRAND PROFILE: RUDE RAINBOW.

From Fabulous Unicorns to Little Piggies, this new Sydney-based brand is here for a good time!

Rude Rainbow is the brainchild of Mitch Petropoulos and Kieran Kartun; not just partners in design, they’re also fiancés! With a wedding to plan, how did they find time to launch their own swimwear brand?

“Every time we were planning for Mardi Gras, a big party, or looking forward to a holiday overseas, we’d shop around for fun party wear and cool accessories,” says Kieran. “We’d eventually end up ordering stuff from either America or China with prints and quality that were almost always underwhelming.

“So, the idea for the company developed organically from our own wants and needs,” says Kieran, Rude Rainbow’s head designer.

Mitch and Kieran have backgrounds in architectural design and fashion, sales, and tech industries, and brought those skills to imagine a great Australian-based brand that emphasises quality materials and, “doesn’t shy away from turning a few heads”.

The design brief the couple gave themselves was simple: be fun, be colourful, and just a little rude. “We wanted to create a brand where anyone could find everything from party accessories to swimwear, at any time of the year, with an ever-changing range. We didn’t want to play it safe. We wanted the designs to be fun and poppy, knowing that Aussie boys aren’t shy of a good print.”

While there are plenty of Australian swimwear brands, Mitch and Kieran didn’t feel that any were willing to fully embrace the gay market, and so designed other items gay boys wanted such as matching bandana prints, caps, fans and eyewear.

In just a few short months since launch, the boys have been pretty successful at getting

Rude Rainbow out there. Check them out in the fashion shoot in this issue of DNA. They also had a shop stall at Fair Day during Mardi Gras this year.

“It was a great experience for us,” says Kieran. “We had everyone from three-year-old girls begging their mothers for the Born To Be Fabulous unicorn fans, to leather daddies buying our very cute Little Piggy swimwear and cap combo.”

“We want to ensure that our customers really stand out in a crowd,” say the boys.

With cheeky prints, a vibrant pop-art colour palette and fun accessories to match, it looks like mission accomplished!

Be fun, be colourful, and just a little rude.