When they opened their first fashion store in Brisbane in 2007, sisters Natalia and Daniella Dionyssiou were just 17 and 19. While both studying fashion design, they started small with a “tiny” space.
In between their studies, the pair worked part-time in their parents’ shoe store, and began selling hand tie-dyed silk duster coats and kimonos they made themselves.
A loan of $30,000 from their parents was “just enough” to buy stock and open the doors to their first store, which was the beginning of their Verge Girl fashion label.
The brand is now a thriving global success, with an annual turnover of $40 million and a string of celebrity clients.
In the next five years, the pair announced they were aiming for a turnover in excess of $ 100 million.
While at their first store in Brisbane’s Elizabeth Arcade, the sisters had plenty of customers, the big change came when they moved the company online in 2014.
“It took a good six months to kick off our online store but once it took off it was seriously like a rocket, there was no turning back,” Daniella shared with news.com.au.
“When we decided that it would be a cool idea to go online, we had little cards for girls to fill out their email addresses which we would put into our database one by one.”
“We are often contacted by the stylists of A-list celebrities and of course we love seeing these kinds of women in our clothing,” Natalia said. “It shows so clearly that style is not about what you’re wearing but how you wear it, which is exactly what we are about.”
“We have always made it our mission to provide young women with affordable and cool clothing,” Natalia told news.com.au.