'I was a surfer girl who lived in swimwear': Meet the Australian bikini designer who achieved incredible overnight success with her cheeky designs and now runs a business worth millions
- Australian bikini designer has made millions from her cheeky designs
- Karina Irby, 26, is self-taught and advertises her product on social media
- In December she sold 1,000 pieces in 24 different styles in just 45 minutes
- She has an office in Burleigh Heights and also sells her designs online
- Do you have a story? Email FemailAU@mailonline.com
An Australian bikini designer has struck a goldmine with her cheeky designs and clever marketing tactics and now runs a business that turns over millions of dollars in sales.
26-year-old Karina Irby says she has one goal in mind with her designs - for customers to realise the Port Macquarie designer's mantra: ‘it’s not just a bikini, it’s a lifestyle.’
To advertise her designs, she uses models dusted with sand while posing on beautiful beaches.
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Cheeky Australian bikini designer, Karina Irby (pictured), 26, has hit the global market with her unique branding approach to catch customer’s attention and has turned over millions of dollars overnight
Self-taught, the young designer spent hours ‘YouTubing’ to learn how to make and design swimwear
The young designer is self-taught - spending hours on YouTube learning how to make and design swimwear.
In an interview with the Daily Mail Australia she said: ‘When I launched we had about 100 pieces in 12 different styles online, they sold out within a week. It was really amazing because I didn’t know what to expect.’
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'Now we're dropping 24 styles with over a 1,000 pieces. The most recent sold out in four minutes.'
Buyers from Australia, America, Europe, Russia and as far away as Iceland are snapping up the swimwear Ms Irby’s showcases on her Instagram account which sells for $120 a set.
The striking bikinis have gathered thousands of likes and now come in an array of colours and design concepts.
Buyer’s from Australia, America, Europe, Russia and as far as Iceland are getting their claws into Ms Irby’s swimwear advertised on her Instagram account and selling at $75 apiece
With over 340,000 followers, social media the cheeky campaigns have worked well for the Port Macquarie born designer, who said was a ‘surfer girl who lived in swimwear’ while growing up.
‘I always liked the cheekier styles that were sold in beautiful places like Hawaii but couldn’t be found in Port Macquarie,’ said Ms Irby.
‘When I was around 18 or 19, I went over to Hawaii and got inspired by the amazing styles and bikinis.
While overseas, Ms Irby worked in wholesale for Hawaiian bikini brands because she 'wanted to bring the beautiful swimmwear to Australia.'
‘They made me an offer to be their distributor in Australia but I turned it down because I wanted to design my own bikinis,’ she said.
With her keen sense of networking, Ms Irby talked to fabric shop owners about getting her own designs printed
With over 300,000 followers, social media campaigning has bode well for the Port Macquarie born designer, who said she’d been a ‘surfer girl who lived in swimwear’ while growing up
Packing up her bags and ‘not really knowing what she was doing’ Ms Irby took her designs to Indonesia.
However, with her keen sense of networking, Ms Irby was soon talking to fabric shop owners about getting her own designs printed.
Ms Irby said: 'I had my business plan set up but didn't have a manufacturer.'
Eventually an Australian in Indonesia agreed to help her manufacture her bikinis which, once launched, unexpectedly sold out very quickly.
The attraction for customers is plain with bright summery colours leaping off the screen to entice viewers to buy - with some commenting that they’re ‘in love’ with the beautiful swimwear advertised across social media including Instagram and Tumblr
Bright summery colours leap of the screen and entice viewers to buy the product with some user’s commenting that they’re ‘in love’
She now runs her business from Burleigh Heads and continued to advertise using social media, a tool she attributes a lot of her success to
In December Ms Irby sold 1,000 pieces of 24 different styles in 45 minutes.
She now runs her business from Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast and continues to advertise using social media, which she says she owes a lot of her success to.
Ms Irby uses Instagram and Snapchat because she likes to stay connected to her customers.
She said: 'I love my customers I like to take the time to talk to people. That's why I take it to heart when I disappoint them.'
'People have contacted me on Instagram angry or disappointed that the designs have been sold out. So we're hoping to be able to expand this year,' she said.
A link to the 26-year-old's online shop can be found on her Instagram profile moana_bikini.
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