A Fortune in Fashion
Profile: Bruno Schiavi
BRW. September 27-October 31 2007
Pages 48-49
THE WORLD’S THE LIMIT FOR THE ENTREPRENEUR WHO SELLS EXACTLY WHAT PEOPLE WANT, BUT SUCCESS REQUIRES PERSISTING WITH A MEASURED STRATEGY - AND STRICT CONTROL.
Bruno Schiavi knows how scary rapid growth can be. United States retail giant Wal−Mart Stores wanted 100,000 units of his first design, the pocket sock, and Schiavi couldn’t believe it. “I almost fell off my seat,” he says. “I thought [the buyer] was saying 100 units. But he kept saying, ‘no, 100 thousand’ in his American accent.” Armed only with prototypes, Schiavi’s real hurdle was supply. His next thought: “How the hell am I going to make it?”
With no savings, Schiavi begged for start−up capital from friends and relatives. He enlisted the help of his mother, Anca Schiavi, to secure a loan, then travelled to China to negotiate with manufacturers. The Wal−Mart order for 100,000 pocket socks was followed by another order for 300,000 units and, within months, Schiavi’s quirky product had made it from his mother’s garage into more than 3000 stores across the US.
Like many apparent strokes of good fortune, the breakthrough Wal−Mart order was born of years of persistence. In the two years before his trip to the US, Schiavi had pitched his product to every large retail chain and department store in Australia − four times each − and was rejected each time. His US success finally won over Australian retailers in 1998 and gave him the confidence to give up the latest in a string of day jobs that included working in hotels, insurance firms and retail stores.
Schiavi loves fashion, and he has a talent for understanding exactly what consumers want. The pocket sock,for loose coins or keys, was inspired by trips to the gym. Simply buying a pair of undies inspired his underwear line, MensFit, launched in 2003. Good−quality US brands were available in Australia, but marked up accordingly, and Schiavi knew first hand that “a guy who’s 25 doesn’t really have $35 to spend on a pair of jocks”.
In 2002, he launched the anabella lingerie line, based on the famous Victoria’s Secret model, incorporating luxury fabrics such as Egyptian and Italian lace, but selling with the minimal overheads of an online store. Initial production runs were exhausted within two weeks.
Annual revenue for Schiavi’s Jupi Corp is now more than $19 million, but Schiavi learned an important lesson from his business’s flying start. Rapid expansion is tempting in the short term, but in the fashion industry it can be a death knell. Jupi’s growth has been carefully controlled over the past nine years.
According to Schiavi, ramping up production with inadequate quality control is an easy way to destroy opportunities in an industry where maintaining a brand is vital. “Yes, you have to have good price points, you have to have good marketing behind it, and you have to have a great PR strategy,” he says. “But it has to be a total package. When standards slip, the consumer will know.”
Schiavi has his mother Anca, who is also his business partner, to thank for avoiding that trap. She is entrusted with the meticulous work of quality assurance, which leaves him free to focus on the design and marketing
aspects of Jupi.
Controlling growth has other advantages. Schiavi employs only 15 staff in Australia and six in the US, and he says his customers respond to dealing with a core group of staff. “We don’t have to go through 11 people to get a decision, we can do it straight away.”
Schiavi is also cautious when it comes to partnering. He has collaborated with Delta Goodrem since 2004 on the Delta by anabella range, with Priscilla Presley on a range of homewares and bed linen, and with plastic surgeon Robert Rey (from the US reality television series Dr. 90210) on a new line of “shapewear” or body−slimming clothing.
But he had no qualms about rejecting the chance to design a clothing line for Justin Timberlake. “You have to learn in this industry that saying ‘no’ to opportunities is an amazing thing,” he says. “To me, it’s always about being in control of what you’re doing, and making sure that you can cope with what you’re doing. For that particular project, it was just putting someone’s name on it. That I just call ‘licensing’.”
He expects the same dedication and involvement from his high−profile partners as he is willing to give. Rey flies with Schiavi to Florida every month to record a four−hour television segment used to promote their range on the US Home Shopping Network. Goodrem sleeps in the new range of sleepwear she has designed with Schiavi to ensure it’s comfortable.
The time seems right for further expansion within the US market. The Dr Rey’s Instant Shapewear line will be launched in more than 800 Sears department stores this year, and Schiavi plans to add another 11 staff to his US office to cope with the growth.
He expects turnover to reach $50 million in the next financial year and is investigating selling existing lines into new markets, including Brazil. That growth means he will continue to split his time between Los Angeles and his home town of Sydney.
Schiavi is eager to discuss his business but disinterested in discussing wealth, preferring to mention his family, his gratitude to his colleagues and his gaggle of “children”, made up of his nine fashion lines and his much−loved dogs.
“I think you define success by how happy you are, to be honest,” he says. “My Dad died very young of cancer, and I learned a great lesson from it. No matter how much money you have, you really just have to enjoy life.”
Bruno Schiavi
AGE: 35
Born: Bucharest, Romania
Lives: Los Angeles
Wealth: $19 million
Source of wealth: Jupi Corp
Secrets of success: Be open−minded. Every rejection or setback should challenge you to find an alternative way to succeed.
Interests: Astrology, feng shui
