Kitchen to catwalk brings taste of success

By DITA DE BONI

Nicola Gillies is living proof of the wisdom of following your heart over your first chosen career path.

And the diminutive 28-year-old Aucklander's heart figures literally in the story of her rag-trade success.

Aged 19 and qualified as a chef, she rethought her career goals during a 12-month recovery from a triple bypass operation and decided to carve a path in fashion.

Today, Ms Gillies and business partner Tatjana Windhager preside over a $5 million business designing and producing clothes under the brand name Ricochet - a brand about to launch into Australia and eventually, the pair hope, in London.

Originally taken on to work in fashion retail, Ms Gillies had no formal design training but was soon uncovered as a natural and, when implored not to leave New Zealand on her big OE, forged a partnership with Ms Windhager which has built Ricochet into one of the country's elite fashion shops alongside the likes of Karen Walker, Zambesi and Kate Sylvester.

The unassuming Parnell workshop is the creative hub of Ricochet. The clothes are made in Auckland and Whakatane and were transferred to as far away as Hong Kong when local manufacturers could not keep pace with growing volumes.

Ricochet has taken a slightly different path to some fashion labels in building brand recognition. Fashion shows and huge volumes of product have taken second place to the company's own retail outlets, through which 80 per cent of its items are sold.

As well as keeping the prices affordable "so the customer can have the complete look," the women have developed what they describe as a distinctive retail philosophy. "We get our concept across so much better in our own stores, and we hand pick the most outgoing, friendly and creative girls we can in our stores because they themselves can promote our clothes in the most empowered way," says Ms Gillies.

All Ricochet store workers wear the brand's designs, and are encouraged to wear them in the most creative way possible: "They wear them upside down, inside out and back-to-front." They are also supplied "recipes' written by the designers for each garment, with up to eight different ways any one piece can be worn.

"Even so, I still get a thrill walking around the city and seeing people wear our designs in ways I never thought possible," Ms Gillies says.

Educating the chain's own staff and wholesalers about the garments is a vital part of the marketing mix, and something the pair want to keep control of overseas. And although staffing is crucial to their success, the two women say human resources has proved a bain at times.

"I've learned so much over the eight years we've been in business, but it has not been easy. You have to come to an understanding that it isn't always possible to satisfy everyone's needs."

Ms Windhager believes the secret to Ricochet's success has been a total focus on costs. The company knows "daily, hourly, how the stores are performing. We are totally budget-oriented and think very carefully about every new move."

Ms Gillies has one more business strategy which may not suit every small business owner, but one she swears by. Before each new Ricochet store opens, she shaves all her hair off. "It really empowers each new venture."