Vestirsi: How $20k turned into eight-figure Aussie success story

News.com.au

4 days ago

Monica Upton knows how a simple accessory can change everything.
'The ability a bag has to transform your look and how you feel when you wake up in the morning is really powerful,' says the founder and creative director of Australian leather bag brand, Vestirsi.
In 2019, at age 30, she invested $20,000 to self-fund what has become an eight-figure business in just five years.
Vestirsi, Italian for 'dress up', was founded from Monica's struggle to find a quality leather work bag that didn't cost thousands of dollars.
Since then, the now Brisbane-based brand has gone from strength to strength, growing from one to 21 staff members and experiencing a 354 per cent growth in revenue in the last two years. This week, Vestirsi launched into Australian retail giant, David Jones.
'I had a very specific product in mind,' Monica tells news.com.au checkout.
'I knew exactly what I wanted to be able to make and my target price because I knew what the gap was in Australia.'
It was this single focus that has helped shape Vestirsi into what it is today.
'THERE MUST BE OTHER WOMEN IN AUSTRALIA THAT ARE HAVING THIS SAME FRUSTRATION'
After moving to Melbourne to work at Mecca Head Office, the Perth local immediately spotted a gap in the market.
'I noticed that a lot of the senior staff had beautiful Celine and Prada and gorgeous $3000, $4000 bags,' she says.
Monica took to Chapel Street in Melbourne, Australia's premier shopping destination, and couldn't find a leather bag in her price range.
'Everything was either fake leather or PU vegan leather, which I didn't want,' she says.
'I wanted quality that would last for many years because I needed to stretch my coin further.
'So that planted the seed in my mind that if I'm looking for this work bag, there must be other women in Australia that are having this same frustration.'
To find this perfect bag, Monica turned to her Italian heritage.
'My grandparents are Italian, so I knew that Italy, as well as being famous for the best food and the best wine, had the best leather,' she says.
Monica used her honeymoon to meet with several suppliers in Italy and she eventually found the one that she still works with today.
Monica gave herself six months to get the brand off the ground. It finally launched in September 2019 to almost immediate acclaim.
'We had success from day one,' she says.
'I used my PR contacts from my Mecca days to pitch to some journalists who picked up the story, which again was further confirmation that no one was really making simple chic styles for under $500. '
By 2023, four years after launching, Vestirsi was selling 6000 units in a year. They now do that in a month.
'IT CAN BE LONELY AT THE START'
Now with a team of 21 staff, Vestirsi is a well-oiled machine, but in the early days, it was just Monica.
'I think it can be lonely at the start,' she says.
'You have to be okay with the isolation of that and the autonomy. You have to be comfortable wearing a million hats.'
Back then, there was no one else to bounce ideas off and she says she simply had to be full of confidence in herself and her idea.
'You don't have the luxury of self-doubt,' Monica says.
'You've got to really back yourself and back your concept from day one.
'I think the biggest challenge or difference at the start is probably the loneliness and the isolation compared to where it is now.'
The now mother of two says that having children has also shaped the business strategy.
' Working mums would know how hard it is to juggle a job and children. So I actually feel incredibly blessed that it's my own business,' Monica says.
'But the counter of that is that you never stop and you never switch off.
'I didn't take maternity leave, I don't take annual leave. It never stops.'
'SELLS ITSELF IN ITS BEAUTY AND SIMPLICITY'
'There's something about the understated Australian aesthetic that really resonates with women around the globe,' Monica says.
It was this gap that Monica never lost sight of.
'I knew if this is something that I deemed to be of value and that I cared about, there would be other women who had the same sentiment,' she says.
'When so much of Australian fashion and fashion globally is made in China, there's absolutely a customer who wants something that has that Italian heritage and that European craftsmanship, and I really truly believed that this is something special that we can provide the customer.'
This meaning and purpose drives everything Vestirsi does.
'The purpose of the brand was to fuse the beautiful, understated Australian aesthetic with the impeccable Italian craftsmanship and then deliver it to the Australian woman at a reasonable price,' says Monica.
'DOUBLED OVERNIGHT'
The brand's best-selling bag by far is the Bella Black 3-in-1 Convertible Bag.
'It's a very chic, minimal design, but we've combined it with the everyday practicality the Australian and international woman wants from her handbag,' Monica says.
'And the fusion of those two pillars, timelessness and luxury with practicality. has just been a real sweet spot for that bag.'
The bag was originally a two-in-one bag and only recently relaunched as a three-in-one.
Already a bestseller, the relaunch saw sales double overnight.
'If you don't listen to your customers, you're just missing a huge opportunity to grow your brand even more, because they'll often tell you what they want,' Monica says.
Monica's personal favourite is the Sloan Black Leather Crossbody Clutch. It can similarly be worn as either a clutch or a cross-body bag.
'I love the classic size for just everyday girls' lunches or going into meetings.
'You can still feel really polished and it still fits a lot, but you can really take it from day to night,' she says.
And it's this ability to make any woman feel polished and confident that proves Monica found the perfect formula from day one.