Une Piece is an Australian retailer of women's swimwear, founded by Carly Brown in 2016. The brand's signature product is a one-piece swimsuit with long sleeves; the upper half of the suit resembling and functioning as a rashie. The suit provides its wearer with UPF50+[1] sun protection for their arms and back, and a zippered front offers a selectable amount of protection for the chest.[2] The "Original Sexie Rashie" design attracted favourable review in major fashion publications including Vogue,[3] Elle,[4] Marie Claire,[5] and Vanity Fair,[6] and won Brown second place in the Queensland University of Technology's Bluebox annual innovation challenge for 2017.[7] Brown later named the Huffington Post, London Times, and Vogue reviews as giving her a sense of validation.[8]
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Apparel manufacture and retail |
| Founded | 2016 |
| Founder | Carly Brown |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Athletic apparel (swimwear) |
| Website | https://www.unepiece.com |
The suits are manufactured from a 4½ times chlorine resistant Italian fabric[9][10] and feature 28 pieces in their construction (compared to four in a typical rashie).[11] This structure is intended to "flatter and conceal", as a reviewer in The Times put it.[12] The design went through eleven iterations before being finalised[13] and is manufactured in a wide range of sizes: (Australian) sizes 6 to 18.[14] The broad range of sizes was a deliberate choice by Brown to make the product as accessible to as many women as practical, stating in an interview "It's not fair just because you aren't a size 8 or 10, you can't get access to beautiful products".[15]
Prior to founding Une Piece, Brown was a marketing manager for The Coca-Cola Company[13] and Revlon in London,[16] and a senior marketing manager for Uber in Australia.[16][17] The idea for the Une Piece design came to Brown when she was holidaying in Europe.[1][11] While undertaking market research for the product, she amassed a waiting list of over 500 buyers, convincing her of the product's viability.[1][18] The initial production run sold out within a week of availability[18] with future buyers facing a wait of over a month for the second run.[18] She left her position at Uber to work full-time on Une Piece in July 2016.[12]
The "Original Sexie Rashie" design was later joined by two variations with back zips in place of the front zip: the "Surfe Sexie Rashie" with a higher neck, and the "Twist Sexie Rashie" with a low-cut neck and twist detailing on the front. Une Piece also manufactures a conventional, halterneck one-piece swimsuit based on their "Twist Sexie Rashie" design.[19]
References
edit- ^ a b c Champ, Nicky (31 March 2017). "How Carly Brown created the sell-out demand for her start-up Une Piece". Business Chicks. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ Preston, Kahla (11 December 2016). "The days of the 'daggy' rashie vest are well and truly over". Mamamia. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ Murdoch-Smith, Lauren (14 July 2017). "What We Want Now: The Surfer Girl Swimsuit That Flatters Everyone". Vogue. Condé Nast. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ Gandini, Elena (28 March 2017). "Il costume da bagno che tutte vogliono: è sold out in una settimana" [The swimsuit that everybody wants: sold out in one week]. Elle. Hearst. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ McClelland, Anna (12 December 2016). "This one-piece has a 500-person wait list – and you're going to want one too". Marie Claire. Pacific Magazines. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ Sahli, Essia (27 March 2017). "Il costume da bagno con lista d'attesa" [The swimsuit with a waiting list]. Vanity Fair. Condé Nast. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ "2017 QUT bluebox Challenge announce Winners". QUT bluebox. Queensland University of Technology. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ "UNE PIECE QUT bluebox Challenge Finalist 2017". QUT bluebox. Queensland University of Technology. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ Yazxhi, Nikki (27 July 2017). "glow & tell: CARLY BROWN, FOUNDER OF UNE PIECE". Bellamumma. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ "The Original Sexie Rashie Black". Une Piece. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ a b Taeuber, Amy (12 December 2016). "The Australian Swimsuit More Than 500 Women Queued To Buy". 97.3fm. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ a b Harrison, Bridget (27 May 2017). "A swimsuit with sleeves: what we'll all be wearing this summer". The Times. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ a b Mitchell, Simone (12 December 2016). "The Australian swimsuit more than 500 women queued to buy". MyBody+Soul. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ Austen, Ashleigh (16 November 2017). "This Is The World's Most Flattering Swimsuit, According To The Internet". Whimn. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ Campbell, Leigh (20 March 2017). "The Aussie Swimwear Label That Had Hundreds On The Waiting List Before Launch". Huffington Post. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ a b Mackerras, Julia (11 July 2017). ""Be yourself, and do something you love," UNE PIECE founder, Carly Brown". Queensland University of Technology. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ Wilkins, Bridie (22 March 2017). "500+ Women Were On The Waitlist For This Swimsuit". Look. Time. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ a b c Tutty, Jacinda (27 February 2017). "Beach fashion: Brisbane label takes 'world's sexiest rashie' global". The Courier Mail. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ "What's New". Une Piece. 5 September 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2018.