UNDER THE SPELL
In less than a decade, SPELL & THE GYPSY COLLECTIVE has blossomed from a Byron Bay market stall into a multimillion-dollar business with a superfan following. So what makes the brand so BEWITCHING?
A bohemian Byron Bay brand goes global.
THE PHRASE “CULT STATUS’ is bandied about nowadays, used to describe hot-for-a-minute brands or a dress/bag/shoe with a brief moment in the Instagram sun. The truth is, few deserve the title – but Spell & The Gypsy Collective may be a rare exception. First there’s the obvious stuff: the 933,000 Instagram followers and celebrity endorsements from the likes of Margot Robbie, Elsa Pataky and Blake Lively. Then there’s the fact customers line up around the block of the brand’s Byron Bay flagship when a new collection drops, or that there’s a Facebook group dedicated to buying, selling and swapping Spell wares, with more than 12,000 members. Even further proof: a group of Spell diehards recently launched the first-ever “Spell Sisters” retreat in California’s Palm Desert, replete with themed nights and photo shoots – an event organised totally independently of the brand.
In short: there is something special about Spell. “I think it goes back to the fact that the brand started at the markets, from the start we had the joy of talking to our customers directly,” says Elizabeth Abegg, who co-founded the label with her sister Isabella Pennefather in 2009. “Those markets were my entry into the world of fashion because I didn’t come from the fashion industry, so our strategy for the brand wasn’t based on a dialogue with our peers or with wholesalers or manufacturers, we were basing everything off comments on our blogs or social media or face-to-face with the customers. We’ve never really wanted to let go of that.”
Abegg had been working in a corporate job in Sydney while Pennefather had been making waves in Byron Bay, selling handcrafted jewellery at the local artisan markets. The jewellery line expanded to include premium printed tees and as demand increased, Abegg – who was looking for a sea change – asked Isabella if she needed a hand with the business side of the operation. From there, Spell was born.
In the past decade that market stall’s modest offering has expanded to include biannual ready-to-wear collections, swimwear, kidswear and homewares. Spell now has a multimillion-dollar annual turnover, with a staff of 60, a Byron Bay flagship and the opening of an LA pop-up store.
Sure, keeping your customer in mind is easy enough when you’re face-to-face with them at the markets every day – but how did the brand fare keeping up with the “Spell woman”
when that now refers to ardent fans around the globe? “We are as in tune with the customer’s feedback as we can possibly get,” says Pennefather. “We always take that feedback into consideration when designing every collection. For example, at the moment we’ve noticed that the first pieces to sell out are our traditional gypsy prints, so I’ve made a real effort to design some pieces with those amazing prints in the new collections.”
Plus, they’re still directly asking their customers to share their thoughts. Every new collection is sent to a handful of the brand’s “diehard” customers in advance. These women offer feedback and shoot the looks on themselves, releasing the shots on social media to coincide with launch day. “We get to see how they interpret the collection because these are customers with a strong relationship with the brand,” says Abegg. “I really love that.”
Is this cult following (and immediate feedback) stressful? “Oh, of course there’s pressure!” laughs Pennefather. “When we’re designing a collection there are so many stages and reviews to make sure we’re happy with the design. I fine-tune every tiny detail so that by the time the collection is finished we are all confident that our customers will love it.”
Fashion designers face a constant balancing act between keeping their offering consistent and pushing the boundaries creatively. Spell – who are known for their specific design aesthetic of paisley prints, pretty white lace and bohemian motifs – are candid about how difficult that can be. “On one hand we have to experiment and evolve the brand so as not to just be a ‘boho brand’,” acknowledges Abegg. “But at the same time we want to respect our core customer base and give them what they want and love. I always think of Metallica and how they changed their sound and all their old fans were like ‘Where’s the old music?!’ We’re really conscious of that.”
As for future plans? Contrary to what you might expect, Spell’s goals moving forward have nothing to do with global domination or expanding the celebrity hit list. Since 2016, the brand’s biggest focus has been to make its business practices as sustainable as possible. That includes everything from materials – this year they rolled out collections made with organic cotton, recycled nylon and sustainable fibres – to product transparency (the aim is to have the carbon footprint of every single Spell piece available to customers by 2025). They also plan to embrace the “circular economy” by creating a system where older Spell pieces can be donated and their fibres recycled in new collections.
“It used to be a case of, if a collection sold out we’d say ‘Order more! This is amazing!’, and put all our energy into ordering more and managing the demand,” says Abegg. “Whereas now because we’re on a journey of sustainability – and I use the term journey because you never just become sustainable – a lot of our investment is going into making our business practices more ethical. The reality is you can’t do both at once.”
She admits it’s become an obsession for her. “I went into a cafe the other day and asked for butter, and it arrived in a plastic sachet and I said, ‘Well it’s single-use plastic, so I’ll just have dry toast,’ and then I emailed them afterwards about it. I thought, ‘I’m just going to be that person,’ because businesses need to know. At this moment every single enquiry we get about sustainability comes directly to myself or someone else within our sustainability team. We take it that seriously.”
“Their design aesthetic: PAISLEY PRINTS, pretty white lace and BOHEMIAN motifs”
Collect one or both of Spell & The Gypsy Collective's exclusive scarves from select retailers with this month's issue of ELLE.