Jodhi Meares’ brand The Upside is booming as demand for stylish ‘work from home’ wear continues
She dominated Australia’s swimwear market with Tigerlily bikinis, and now James Packer’s ex-wife is matching its success with her pandemic-proof business, The Upside.
When Jodhi Meares makes her return to Fashion Week, she will almost certainly do so in her signature outfit – a tank top.
It was a sleeveless basic that put The Upside – the Australian activewear brand that Ms Meares launched seven years ago – onto fashion’s radar.
“I think now, women appreciate a ribbed tank,” Ms Meares said. “For me it has been a real love affair – second to bikinis.
“Our original horseshoe tank is what accidentally branded (The Upside).
“We didn’t know that at that time, wearing logos was OK again,” Ms Meares said. “There are times in fashion where you will not see a logo.”
The Upside will unveil its resort ’22 collection, dubbed “Wish You Were Here”, as part of Afterpay Australian Fashion Week on Friday, marking the first time the label has been involved with the event (this is Ms Meares’ third fashion week overall, having previously participated with her former label, Tigerlily).
The tank remains a constant in The Upside‘s range, not to mention in Ms Meares’ wardrobe. “I could nerd out on these things for hours,” Ms Meares said.
“At Tigerlily, I tried to do white cotton tanks and I couldn’t give one away,” she said.
“There are rows and rows of white tanks on the clothes horse, I am like The Fonz,” Ms Meares said, making a reference to Henry Winkler’s character from American sit-com Happy Days who wore cotton tanks as his signature outfit.
“(A stylist once) said something like, ‘What’s Jodhi going to wear? Jeans and a tank top?’ I was like, yeah probably.”
Tigerlily was, of course, Ms Meares’ first brand – which began as a swimwear label, known for barely-there bikinis and a beachy aesthetic, and expanded into lifestyle pieces. She sold Tigerlily to Australian surf conglomerate, Billabong, in 2007 for an undisclosed amount (Billabong has since on-sold the brand).
Last year, when activewear became the dominant WFH trend due to Covid lockdowns, The Upside saw a 90 per cent spike in sales of loungewear, figures released to The Australian exclusively revealed.
Sales of shorts and spin shorts (aka bike shorts) went up 140 per cent year on year, while demand for traditional leggings was up 20 per cent.
With international stockists including Revolve, Net-A-Porter, Matches Fashion, Ms Meares used the Covid era to get back to basics, business-wise.
“At one point our stores had to close, as everyone else’s did, we focused online and listened to our customer, and what they wanted,” Ms Meares said.
“It was time to get more intimate as a company – the brand has been around for seven years now, that wave takes off and it tends to take on an energy … of its own.
“This was a time to get back deeply into the brand.”
Emerging as a key trend in the semi-aftermath of Covid is what Ms Meares calls “recovery” or “elevated” activewear, made up of tracksuits and soft suiting – a trend evident in her soon-to-be-unveiled new resort collection, which features Ms Meares‘ take on a relaxed pants suit (notably, a rusty orange-toned loose-fitting blazer and matching trousers).
“Recovery definitely grew … it’s been growing for some time,” she said. “I think for a long time, the way people have been dressing has been changing,“ she said.
The pandemic, Ms Meares said, “definitely sped things up”.
“I have been tracking this area for so many years – I was looking at it really closely after I sold my first company (Tigerlily),” she said.
“(The Upside) began in New York with girls in black leggings and a Balenciaga boot and jackets, going from the yoga studio to a bar.
“The way people live is changing so dramatically. I think that’s where ‘recovery’ was born – it was to get girls out of leggings into something else that was comfortable and sexy.
“When that bike short (trend) hit, I mean we couldn’t sell a bike short when we first did them. Sometimes you get out too early and you’ve got to pull back.
“And then that hits, and it becomes something that younger women are wearing again, with a heel.
“Fashion is like that anyway but this space, particularly, is moving and changing.”
While Ms Meares used to split her time between Hawaii and New York, she is now based in Sydney.
“I love to travel. Initially I thought, ‘wow I don’t know how I am going to go, this will be strange being in one spot,’” Ms Meares said. “This is the longest I’ve been in Australia at one extent for many, many years. I have loved it – I embraced it.
“There’s only gratitude.”
In recent months, The Upside launched a collaboration with Nadia Fairfax, a Sydney-based influencer and socialite.
The collegiate-inspired capsule line featured V-neck cable knit jumpers, tennis “skorts” (a skirt/short hybrid), polo shirts, bike shorts and crop tops, body-suits, and sweaters, designed around a varsity, borrowed-from-your-boyfriend theme.
“The colour palette was quite primary,” Ms Meares said, of the 14-piece range and her second partnership with Fairfax.
“It was a real red, white and blue (tone) – an almost frat party feeling.”
As a brand, The Upside takes a deliberately low-key approach to Instagram and that’s a reflection of Meares’ personal perspective towards social media.
“We keep it very real,” she said. “There’s so much information and people are taking in so many opinions, how to be, how to dress, it should be a joyful thing.
“I don’t want to be bossed around by a phone. I don’t want to be influenced by things like that. I want to be influenced by things I read, conversations I have, mother nature, the ocean, I don’t want to be influenced by social media too much.”
For a confessed “Lycra nerd”, Ms Meares is creating her dream wardrobe. “I’m a Lycra nerd, I started out in bikinis and now I’m in stretch,” Ms Meares said, reflecting on her career.
“I used to joke that my dream is everyone will be … in Lycra suits,” she added, with a laugh.
“It’s not too far off, maybe it’ll be a bit more Matrix-y and a bit more organic than that.
“This is going to be a huge space and it will continue to evolve, and I think will become the most important part of people’s wardrobes.”
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