Vestirsi founder Monica Tarca is busy building a brand that could well become not only a celebrity favourite, but a staple of the Australian fashion scene for years to come. Her beautiful brand came to my attention last year during lockdown, and the giveaway I hosted on Instagram was one of LM’s most popular to date. I love to hear the stories behind how a brand got started, you might remember this post on career tips from successful Australian women from a couple of years ago. So aside from marvelling at Monica’s beautiful products, I decided to ask her the nuts and bolts of just how she got started.
A lot of people are curious about how brands get started. I love your story about the Italian connection so tell me, did you just pack a bag and hop on a plane?! How did you go about finding the perfect leather supplier?
In terms of the practical step required to get started, the first step was to identify the gap – what hole in the market was the product going to fill? For me this was Luxury Italian leather bags, made in Italy, under $300, that give 10% back to charity. No other brand was doing this.
Then yes, I needed to find my manufacturer – which will always involve time and money (research, travel and investment in samples) – so prepare yourself mentally and financially for that. It takes times as you need to find the person who can make the product you want, with the features you want at the price you want. So yes, I did jump on a plane – it was essential to be on the ground in Italy – but I also did a huge amount of research and communication with suppliers and manufacturers beforehand to create a shortlist of connections who I met up with once I was over there. Once I was there, I could meet them all, compare their product, practices and facilities and just kept researching, networking meeting and travelling around till I found the perfect partner who could make the bag I wanted, at the quality and price I wanted.
What’s been the biggest challenge in your first year of business?
Like most businesses, the effects of Covid 19 on the economy.
Unlike most retail businesses who manufacturer overseas, we didn’t have a low stock-on-hand issue, but had the opposite – overstock issue – as we had big orders already on the sea on their way to AUS. So this essentially meant we had hundreds of bag, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting in our warehouse not selling because our bags are for (1) work/office or (2) going out
and during Covid, women are doing neither of these! As a result, the traffic on our website had dropped significantly, as did sales and this was just a wave we’ve had to ride out. Luckily, we were able to make it through and sales have picked back up as women regain their confidence in the market and have started spending again.
Black is a real ‘Melbourne’ aesthetic and as a starting point, it seemed like a really smart choice for your first range. How has the brand been received outside of Melbourne?
Yes, it is very Melbourne and also at the time – very me (all I wore was black) – so it just made sense. It was also much cheaper to start with just one shade range and black was the most-chic and most obvious choice. However, as the brand grew the number one request was for colours, so earlier this year we introduced tan, beige and taupe which have been received really well, especially in the warmer climates of NSW, QLD and WA. Having said that, out best-selling colour is still black and our best-selling market is still Victoria!
What’s the best/worst part of running your own business?
Worst: Isolation of working alone. I talk about the business with my husband and best friends a lot but I also don’t want to bore them or hijack the conversation and make it all about VESTIRSI, so sometimes I try not to talk about VESTIRSI which can make me feel quite isolated. I’m also just very indecisive and it takes me a lot of emotional energy to make a decision, so often I wish I had a business partner to bounce ideas off.
Best: Flexibility – which was essential when I was suffering through a bad bout of morning sickness recently. Being able to stay at home and offline was essential when I was feeling really ill and being able to “slow down” when I have a baby in Feb (no Mat leave when you work for yourself!) but being able to set my own pace will be a godsend.
If Vestirsi could be seen on anyone in the world, who would that be?
Any smart, stylish Australian business women who are killing it in retail, like Jo Horgan of MECCA or Zoe Foster Blake of Go-To Skincare.
