ully, it leads to bigger and better things,” Swanndri CEO Mark Nevin told Inside Retail.  Founded more than 100 years ago, the heritage brand offers a wide range of apparel for men, women and children, though it’s best known for its classic “bush shirts”, affectionately known as “Swannis” in New Zealand.  Designed by Swanndri founder William Broome for farmers, forestry workers and other people labouring outdoors in 1913, the shirts are oversized, made out of thick wool and fall to the mid-thigh.  Despite their old-fashioned appearance, they’ve been embraced by generations of New Zealanders and have given the brand’s more modern ranges a halo of authenticity. But the brand isn’t relying solely on its origin story to attract new customers, particularly as it looks to grow overseas.  “It’s made to last, it can be worn in a work setting, but also a leisure setting and it’s sustainable, because wool is grown naturally and completely renewable,” Nevin said about Swanndri’s outdoor clothing range.  “When you combine all of those things together, it makes for a really strong proposition.” Source: Swanndri.com.au Targeting Australia, the UK Since entering the Australian market 10 years ago, it has become Swanndri’s second biggest market after New Zealand.  The brand currently has around 400 wholesale accounts in the country, but they’re primarily located in regional areas. Going forward, it aims to focus on more metropolitan retailers, like David Jones.  “In New Zealand, we sell to provincial fashion stores and farm merchant supply stores, but we also sell to the outdoor sector – Torpedo7 is a major retailer of ours – and the streetwear market,” Nevin said.  “We’ve been wanting to replicate that in Australia for a couple of years, but the pandemic got in the way of us being able to travel and get in front of buyers and new companies.”  The NZTE initiative with David Jones, which Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern unveiled to great fanfare in early July, has helped raise brand awareness in Australia, which Nevin is keen to capitalise on.  Beyond Oceania, the brand has a small but growing presence in the UK. It went from six accounts to more than 40 in the last year, after appointing a local sales agent. “We’ve got some big plans for the northern hemisphere,” Nevin said. “It provides a really nice counter-season balance to our sales.”  Back to its birthplace While the brand is investing in its global footprint, it’s also expanding at home. Swanndri recently opened its sixth bricks-and-mortar store in New Plymouth, New Zealand, in the brand’s birthplace of Taranaki.  The 220sqm store has an industrial feel and a red-and-black interior, calling to mind a classic checked flannel shirt.  “Before Taranaki, our most recent store was Westfield Newmarket [in Auckland],” Nevin said.  That store also has a red-and-black feature wall, as well as a lounge area defined by a wool rug, leather chairs and whisky cabinet.  “If someone is looking around and they want to put their feet up, there’s a couple of magazines and books to read, and they can also have a whiskey while they do it,” he explained.  Swanndri has two further stores in Christchurch, a store in Dunedin and a store in Queenstown, and it’s looking to open more in the years ahead. “Over the next three or four years, we’ll likely be opening another three or four stores. That’s not necessarily one a year, it’s really around where the opportunities are,” Nevin said. “There are a couple of places where we’re underrepresented – we’ve got a desire to be in Wellington – and then it’s just about studying the local markets in terms of household income, GDP per capita and where our competitors are.”