Swimwear brand jets into new store format

Inspired by a luxurious poolside cabana, the new stores will ‘transform’ the way in which women typically shop for swimwear, promises Danny Lattouf, head of Y&R Ideaworks, which collaborated with parent company Pas Group on the project.

“When shopping for women’s swimwear, it’s essentially the same retail experience all over the world. Product doesn’t quite display well on a hanger and with enough stock on display, even a $500 European designer swimsuit doesn’t look all that enticing,” Lattouf told IRW.

“Until the first [Jets] store launches, I can say that this transformation promises a simpler, seamless and highly curated experience – a high service and beautiful experience that the category and women deserve, and have waited too long for.”

In addition to being stocked across Australia, Jets is in US major department stores Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus and next year, Pas is planning to dramatically increase its expansion across the country, said Pas Group CEO Eric Morris. The brand is also stocked in Selfridges and Harvey Nichols in the UK and Brown Thomas in Ireland.

“For an Australian brand to succeed overseas, it has to be niche, because there’s a very competitive landscape around the world. And when you look at it, that’s why we think we’ve got an opportunity for Jets, because it’s got a niche, it’s positioned well in the marketplace and there’s a space for it. It’s not just generic swimwear,” Morris explained.

“The element that we focus on at Jets is really around fit, fabrication and how it makes a woman feel. That’s been the strength of the brand for many years…We see ourselves as artisans in terms of how we create the patterns and fit. Jets is not a copycat brand which is sent off to Asia to be manufactured – it’s really created here, then manufactured offshore.”

Jets is also planning to focus more on extending its resortwear and accessories collections to complement its existing swimwear range, which will be designed to take the customer from the beach to the bar and dinner. As Morris described, the idea is that the customer will be able to pack one Jets piece that will she can wear for multiple occasions.

“Australian swimwear is very well respected around the world, people love the fact that we have the beach and an outdoor lifestyle. Australian swimwear has a great cachet. One of the first things we did after buying the Jets brand two years ago was adding the word ‘Australia’ underneath it because we wanted it to be synonymous with Australia.”