‘I was engaged three times before the one’: The men in Erin Deering’s life

Erin Deering is best known as the founder of the Triangl bikini brand, and, in 2024, unsuccessfully ran for Melbourne City Council. The 40-year-old mother of four discusses her idyllic childhood, starting a business with her ex-partner, and finding lasting love.

Erin Deering started Triangl on her second date with ex partner, Craig Ellis, with whom she has two children.

My paternal grandpa, Harold, was the patriarch of the family, a larger-than-life character who everybody loved. He fought in World War I, and later worked as a gardener at Scotch College [in Melbourne]. He was a smoker and drinker who lived to the age of 99, was a mad Melbourne Demons AFL club supporter and was a huge part of our childhood.

My maternal grandfather, Thomas, died when my mum, Sue, was 18. It was painful for her as she lost both parents within six months of each other. My pop was cool, had lots of style and together with my grandmother, Joy, made a chic couple.

I am very much a daddy’s girl. My dad, Rick, is still working in his 70s. He worked in insurance and now runs a body corporate business. We lived all around Australia for his work, but when he was with us three kids, he was very present. Dad has a lot of enthusiasm for the simple things. We’d often go to the airport and watch the planes take off or go on trips to strawberry farms and eat ice-cream.

My parents have been married for 50 years. They lived a few streets away from one another and started going steady at 14. My parents married in 1974, aged 20, and didn’t have kids for 10 years. Growing up, I only heard Dad yell once. He was doing gentle conscious parenting before it was a thing.

I am the middle child. I have an older sister, Bree, and a brother, Myles, who is five years younger than me. The three of us have always been very close. Myles is very creative and probably feels a bit of pressure, given how much I have done in my life.

[Craig and I] don’t have a legal custody arrangement. We work things out despite our grievances and do a bit of co-parenting therapy.

Erin Deering, founder of Triangl and Deering

My first kiss was with a boy I had the biggest crush on in year 8. We did date for a short while, but he broke up with me, and I spent the rest of my high school years trying to win him back.

My celebrity crush was American actor Scott Wolf in the ’90s sitcom Party of Five. He was blue-eyed with sandy hair.

My year 8 English teacher at Strathcona Girls Grammar [in Melbourne] saw my potential. I loved being creative through writing and he was very encouraging. I generally avoided school work and didn’t really apply myself, but he always found a way to keep me engaged.

I dated a guy called Ben for six years from age 18 to 24. We were living together, had gotten engaged, but the break-up was horrendous because I had to sit down and tell him, “I don’t love you any more.”

I went into a two-year relationship with a guy called Nick after that. I thought he was my greatest love. I ended up not being loyal, and we broke up because of it; I pined for him for years. It was the first time I felt loved in a relationship. We tried to get back together, but it never worked out.

That’s when I met Craig Ellis. He and I started our brand Triangl together in 2011 on our second date. I was 27. He decided everything for me. Our passion for our brand and one another created exciting sparks and massive explosions in our relationship. We moved to Hong Kong to get the brand off the ground, but we argued non-stop.

We have two boys together, Oscar, 9, and Oly, 7. We broke up right before I gave birth to Oly. Craig didn’t make the birth of our first son, and we weren’t together when I had the second. We don’t have a legal custody arrangement. We work things out despite our grievances and do a bit of co-parenting therapy.

I have been engaged three times and never dreamed of a wedding day, but then I met Zachary Keane at a restaurant in 2018 and everything changed. I pursued him relentlessly and won him over. We married in 2023. Ours is a grounding love. Zac is very pragmatic; I am flighty and a million miles an hour. He is the voice of reason. We have two children, Beatrice, 4, and Bobby, 3.

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