‘It’s harder than you think’: say Australia’s top social media creators The Rybka Twins

An acrobatic duo who launched to stardom after appearing on Australia’s Got Talent are set to appear on America’s Got Talent, as well as launching their own SHEIN collection.

Social media stars the Rybka Twins, Sam and Teagan Rybka launching their SHEIN collection in Sydney. Picture: Richard Dobson.

Sam and Teagan Rybka, who are some of Australia’s most influential social media creators, want people to understand their “24/7” job is far from easy or unqualified.

The twin sisters, 27, didn’t have Instagram accounts when they launched to stardom after appearing on Australia’s Got Talent at age 17, performing acrobatic and dancing routines.

“The producers said please get Instagram so we can advertise you, so we fell into it,” Sam told Confidential.

Shortly after being eliminated in the AGT semi-final, they started growing their social media accounts across Instagram, YouTube and TikTok (then Musical.ly), building a highly engaged following of teenage girls.

Teagan: “It wasn’t until we got our first pay cheque that we realised, oh my gosh, we can literally do this full time.”

Sam and Teagan Rybka wearing a bodycon dress from their capsule collection with Chinese fashion behemoth SHEIN. Picture: Richard Dobson

The Perth-based pair have 14m followers on TikTok and 1.1m followers on Instagram but make most of their money from YouTube ads.

“Not anyone can post a video and monetise it, you have to build up a following,” Teagan explained.

How many hours do they work in a day?

“24/7,” they said in unison.

Teagan: “We can’t really get away from it because we are the brand.”

“It’s like when we went to Disneyland, we made content the whole time we were there. The choice is ‘do we enjoy it? Or make a heap of videos?’”

Sam says: “But we do have the best job in the world and are so grateful.”

Teagan says: “People always underestimate the workload though. We’re perfectionists, so a 15-second TikTok takes an hour to film. We like to describe it as a never-ending to-do list.”

The Perth-based pair are some of the most-followed content creators out of Australia. Picture: Richard Dobson

A big tick on that list was speaking to Confidential at the glamorous harbourside launch of their own clothing collection with Chinese online-only retailer SHEIN on Wednesday.

The Ryka Twins worked with the company, which delivers to more than 150 countries, for two months to design and deliver their 35-piece capsule.

They had worked with SHEIN once before, wearing the brand to Australian fashion week.

“Fast fashion” was invented by companies like Zara and H&M in the 90s, according to a report written by Simon Irwin, equity analyst at Credit Suisse.

It involves taking the latest catwalk styles and bring similar products to market in 4-8 weeks.

SHEIN has faced intense scrutiny for its “ultra fast fashion”, which includes releasing between 2000 and 10,000 new products daily, in small batches.

The UK’s Channel 4 2022 documentary “Inside the SHEIN machine” exposed poor working conditions in two of SHEIN’s since-closed Guangzhou, China factories.

This included workers being paid six cents per item, and that they’re asked to produce up to 500 items in their 18-hour work day.

“The hardest thing about influencing is separating life from work, because it’s all just one,” the Rybka twins told The Daily Telegraph. Picture: Richard Dobson

“We don’t get too many comments (raising concerns about SHEIN),” Teagan said. “If there was heaps of them, we’d address it, but it’s just the odd one or two.”

“And SHEIN are working towards minimising their impact on the environment,” Sam added, referencing its commitment to reduce a quarter of emissions across the global operation by 2030.

“Certain brands get targeted more than others, but they’re pretty much all the same.”

The twins’ next focus, however, is America’s Got Talent, in which they will star in season 18.

“We were hoping Simon (Cowell) was nice because he’s like the main one,” Sam said. “And he was.”

They performed for Cowell, and celebrity judges Sofia Vergara, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel and host Terry Crews.