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Dissh has come a long way since its early-noughties Gold Coast roots. Once a standalone multi-brand boutique in Queensland, Australia, Dissh now has a new look, seven boutiques across the country, a global social media following and is embarking on US expansion on the heels of a AU$90 million investment from retail billionaire Brett Blundy via his private investment group BBRC.
Founded in 2001 by Maree Henry, Dissh is now owned by director Lucy Henry-Hicks, Maree’s daughter. She started working for the brand in 2006 — right out of high school, and right as Facebook was taking off. Henry-Hicks introduced e-commerce while her mother managed the existing brick-and-mortar business. As the retail tides shifted — and e-tail ramped up — the pair’s dynamic changed too, and Henry-Hicks took on the lead role. In 2018, Henry stepped down, and Henry-Hicks moved to re-envision Dissh as her own, with a big rebrand that kicked off in 2019.
Pre-rebrand, Dissh had a very different look: bold, bright pieces at a price point accessible to Aussie teens. Shoppers reminiscing on ‘old Dissh’ likened it to Princess Polly. It ebbed and flowed, Henry-Hicks says. “The first 15 years were hugely successful financially. Between 2015 and 2019, things were tough, we were just breaking even — the business had matured and needed a fresh direction and perspective.” The point at which she took the helm.
“I essentially inherited a business with good bones but that needed a new direction and vision,” she continues. Henry-Hicks stripped it back and shifted the business model from multi-brand retailer to fully vertical brand, designing everything in-house. “I recognised that we need creative control over our product to bring a product to market that was unique and authentically us.”
“The product had to resonate — I needed to want to wear it,” she says. Dissh’s pieces are just that: wearable. Think structured linens, classic knits and silk skirts. Lots of creams and blacks, tans and taupes. “Our essentials are almost always our bestsellers.”
In 2020, Henry-Hicks took on the role of director; and the brand has been on the rise since, tripling its revenue between 2019 and 2022. Last financial year, which ended 30 June 2023, the brand raked in $62 million. This year, it’s set to hit $98 million.
Dissh has been consistently profitable since 2020, a success Henry-Hicks credits to steering the multi-brand-to-vertical shift — and the rebrand that accompanied this move. “I see one of our greatest achievements as being able to restructure the business and bring a new vision to life while consistently growing our profit margin.”
Dissh’s latest boost comes in the form of Blundy’s investment. Through his BBRC group, he’s previously invested in Australian jewellery brand Lovisa and New Zealand wholesale distributor Accent Group.
Henry-Hicks didn’t seek out investment for a cash injection. Instead, BBRC was brought on to help Dissh go global. To infiltrate new markets — at a measured pace — and, eventually, open international stores.
This is the first time Dissh has raised funds. “We didn’t need any capital to scale,” Henry-Hicks says firmly. Had Dissh stayed local, she likely wouldn’t have sought out an investment partner. “It’s really the strategic partnership that we’re going to rely on. That’s around opening networks and helping us get to where we want to go more quickly, without falling.”
Blundy, who now owns a 40 per cent stake in the company, is confident that Dissh’s early US success will translate to global growth – and that he can help the brand achieve this. “Lucy and the team have had great early success in the US,” he says. “BBRC has been successful with other investments in the US so we know that US success will eventually translate globally.”
On top of values around company culture and philanthropy aligning, Blundy’s own profile (Australian, based in Monaco after trotting around the globe) matches Henry-Hicks’s ambition for Dissh, which is “rooted in Australianness with a very global reach”.
Entry via socials
Ask a US shopper if they’ve heard of Dissh, and it’s likely they’ve stumbled across its ads on an Instagram feed or a TikTok FYP.
Social media advertising as a US market-entry strategy has been “everything”, Henry-Hicks says. “It’s been our only market-entry strategy.” The approach is a combination of Henry-Hicks’s US market knowledge (she used to travel to the region frequently to gauge trends before they reached Australia) and a strong technical approach, courtesy of her brother’s LA-based digital marketing agency.
At entry, Dissh’s social ad spend comprised roughly 10 per cent of sales. The brand has continued to scale ad spend at the same rate as the brand has grown, Henry-Hicks says.
The approach was targeted, she says. “We didn’t go broad. We started with New York, LA and Miami.” It’s taken off. On TikTok, #DisshHaul has 19.5 million views and #DisshTryOn has six million. Many posts are from American creators.
“We’re still shipping from Australia,” Henry-Hicks says, hinting at the unexpectedness of the speed with which US consumers picked up the brand. “Obviously we’re working on that.”
Around 2022 was when the brand’s American performance saw an uptick, proving its US resonance, Henry-Hicks says. This, she continues, signalled to investors that the brand was one to watch — and they started reaching out. This investor interest was the validation Henry-Hicks needed to shift gears and commit to building Dissh into a global brand. She’s currently on the hunt for a permanent home in Los Angeles.
While social media marketing was key to Dissh’s early market penetration — and will continue to make up the majority of the brand’s marketing spend — it is now diversifying its expenditure. “In 2024, we are focusing on channel diversification to nurture other more traditional marketing channels to support digital — PR, media, influencer and in-person activations as brand creation and story-telling [mechanisms] are a big focus.”
Straight DTC
With US interest ramping up, a big topic at Dissh HQ in the last six to 12 months has been whether or not to go down the wholesale route for its US launch.
The brand has settled on taking cue from its Australian growth: DTC, first online, then brick-and-mortar.
“It’s like, let’s not overcomplicate it. Let’s stick to what we know, continue to finesse what we do,” the director says. “Rather than trying to change the model fundamentally while entering the most competitive market in the world.”
For another, Dissh’s speed to market is what sharpens the brand’s competitive edge. “It helps us make really good decisions and also helps us really stay close to what she [the Dissh customer] wants,” Henry-Hicks says. Now, Dissh typically designs 6 months in advance. From purchase order to delivery is six to eight weeks. If Dissh were to go wholesale, this concept-to-delivery timeline would increase to nine to 12 months. “It’s not something I think would be good business for us.”
The goal is to have stores open in LA and in New York by summer 2025. Third is Miami, then Texas. “We’ve been really fortunate to penetrate and I think we need to be able to maintain that momentum. Otherwise someone else will do that for us.”
Henry-Hicks hasn’t ruled out wholesale entirely, though. She’s met with agents that she’d be keen to partner with down the line. While wholesale would be good to boost visibility, for Dissh’s US debut, she wants to maintain creative control — and not risk winding up on the sale rack. Ultimately, maintaining and building brand equity means curating physical spaces.
For Dissh, stores are about image, not sales. Online will always be Dissh’s primary sales channel, Henry-Hicks says. “The reason for opening stores will always be around customer experience and brand positioning. It’s not about trade,” she says. “That can be fun too — continuing on that brand-building journey in the northern hemisphere.”
Correction: BBRC's investment was updated to $90 million to reflect the correct figure.
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