Following a successful outing at last year’s Rosemount Fashion Week, Perth-born designer Carly Paiker caught the eye of Sportsgirl management.
After the retailer’s wholesale buyers saw Paiker’s designs at the event they approached her to design a new collection specifically for their stores.
The range would be under Paiker’s name and she explained, “I moved to Sydney and there was nothing else I wanted to do, so I gave everything I had towards Rosemount Fashion Week.
“They [Sportsgirl] came back to see it and from there they decided to do a special range from Sportsgirl.”
A part of its winter season, the fashion retailer launched Paiker's collection this week, marketing the jewellery as an independent line.
View Carly Paiker's Collection
“It’s great because it’s exposed to the Sportsgirl customer which works well into my other ranges so I can gain a much larger customer base,” Paiker told
Jeweller. “It’s a one-off collaboration and Sportsgirl put a great deal of publicity around the range which is great for young designers.”
Paiker said Sportsgirl is known to help young designers each year but she was greatly surprised when they approached her. She said the Sportsgirl collaborations are usually linked with clothing designers rather than jewellery and fashion accessories.
“I was really lucky to do something for their accessories side of the business,” Paiker said. “Sportsgirl is well-known and if they show their support, it puts you in the spotlight, or on a great platform to start from.”
While the Sportsgirl collection only went into stores this week, Paiker’s other pieces caught the eye of television personality Giuliana Rancic of USA’s E! News.
“A couple of weeks ago Giuliana wore my jewellery in her show Fashion Police,” Paiker said. “She wore three different pieces each day for three shows – it was fantastic!”
Initially a jewellery hobbyist, Paiker relocated to Sydney three years ago in an attempt to turn this hobby into a successful business venture. Now the young entrepreneur has 45 stockists nationwide in addition to an online sales engine.
“It’s been a lot of hard work but all very exciting,” Paiker said. “I am hoping to get wide exposure and once it’s been in Sportsgirl it raises the awareness of my brand around Australia.”
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