How bikini brand IIXIIST survived pandemic while Seafolly floundered

Aussie mum Rebecca Klodinsky has faced setback after setback – but her swimwear empire is now thriving while others fail for one reason.

It has been a horror year for some of the country’s most iconic swimwear labels – but Aussie mum Rebecca Klodinsky is bucking that gloomy trend.

Ms Klodinsky founded her swimwear line Frankii Swim in 2013 at age 24 as a side hustle during her uni studies.

Since then, it has exploded in popularity even after two separate rebrands.

Today, it is known as IIXIIST and has evolved into a $7 million-a-year company, with Ms Klodinsky’s designs spotted on some of the world’s most famous women including Kim Kardashian, Rihanna and Hailey Bieber.

She told news.com.au her success came down to several secret weapons which had allowed the company to thrive while famous labels such as Seafolly, Tigerlily and JETS Swimwear all entered voluntary administration in recent months.

However, it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing.

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Rebecca Klodinskly has built her multimillion-dollar swimwear brand from the ground up – twice – having to first change from Frankie Swimwear to Frankii Swim, and then to IIXIIST. Picture: Supplied

The brand was originally called Frankie Swimwear but changed to Frankii Swim due to competitors with similar names in the market.

But Ms Klodinsky said she made the bittersweet decision to rebrand yet again – to IIXIIST – this year as the market was by then “flooded with Frankies and lookalike brands”.

“We had all grown exponentially and it was becoming really tough – it was a sticking point for everyone involved and it got to the point where I was happy to back away from it,” she said.

“It was actually a gift to be able to essentially rebrand instead of continually fighting for a word that had become so overdone.

“It was a blessing in disguise to be able to revamp and reboot, especially when it happened hand-in-hand with COVID – it was a chance to really sort out stuff behind the scenes.”

Ms Klodinsky said the key to the successful rebrand was getting on the front foot and being transparent to customers about the reasons for it from “day dot”.

“That was my saving grace, because if I saw a brand that had just become something different I would want to know what happened, so I wanted to communicate the truth to our customers,” she said.

“The feedback has been great and everybody loves the new name.”

Then the coronavirus pandemic hit, causing a fresh hiccup for the brand.

“Nobody knew what was happening or what things were going to look like and when we first got the news of a lockdown I thought, ‘This is the worst thing, we’re going to fail, the company’s done.’ But because everyone pulled back (at the same time) it took the pressure off,” she explained.

Ms Klodinsky said with all brands hit by a sharp drop in revenue simultaneously, it gave her a “hall pass” to “tidy up the back-end”, fine tune her marketing and speak to her audience “in an authentic way”.

“The whole world was suffering … and nobody wanted to be sold to while people were losing jobs – it was not the time to be shopping online or going out to dinner and it hit everybody’s sales,” she said.

She predicted the crisis would “wash out” certain retailers that failed to nail their strategy or which had large overheads – and said swimwear had been particularly impacted by travel bans as it was an item typically bought before a holiday.

“I can’t speak for other brands (that have struggled), and I don’t know their product lines and overheads or whether they had overextended themselves prior to COVID, but the pandemic has come to wipe everybody out but swimwear especially – it’s winter in Australia and America and Europe are in lockdown so people can’t go to beaches,” she said.

“It is heartbreaking to see what is happening to other brands, especially ones like Seafolly that are so iconic.

“COVID has put everybody down but thank god I have been able to weather the storm – I’m not going anywhere, I’ve always been hands on with finances and never let things get out of hand and that has probably been my saving grace.”

She said other reasons for her brand’s longevity include the commitment to basics and the use of top-quality material.

“With swimwear there are so many trends happening across colours, prints and patterns but I feel my brand has always set out to do good basics and we have a high percentage of repeat customers, which speaks volumes,” she said.

“It has paved my way in the industry – you see a lot of brands jump on the trend bandwagon but it doesn’t serve a long-term purpose because what is trending today won’t be in six months.

“I’ve also always made sure to use the highest blend Italian Lycra with no budging, so our quality has never changed.”

Celebrity support has also always been key.

“Our star bralette – the ones the celebrities love – has always been a core piece because it takes you from the beach to daytime, so it’s versatile. Nobody was doing a bralette bikini top when I started and I nailed it,” she said.

“When I look at celebrities in my swimwear it fills me with so much pride that I’ve been able to reach these people and get my stuff on their bodies – it’s a really satisfying feeling to know I’m not that girl packing orders in her bedroom any more.”

Ms Klodinsky said her next goal was to expand the range into resortwear post-COVID.