How 23yo made $1.9m from lockdown sleepwear idea

A Melbourne uni dropout has managed to make seven figures in a little over a year because of “crazy” demand for a certain product while Aussies were stuck in lockdown.

A Melbourne uni dropout has managed to make seven figures in a little over a year thanks to the “crazy” desire for comfy clothes that overcame Australians while in lockdown.

Jack Tanasi, 23, launched Frenchie Wear in June 2020 and since then the company has made a whopping $1.9 million in revenue.

When Australia was caught in the throes of a nationwide lockdown in March last year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the Melburnian, then aged 21, realised now was the chance to start his own product.

He created a ‘Frenchie’ – a mixture between a dressing gown and a hoodie – named after the trendy French bulldog.

Mr Tanasi knew he was onto something when his Frenchie hoodies were an instant hit, making $69,000 in revenue in the first month.

“I was blown away,” he told news.com.au. “Money just poured back in.”

In what is a testament to the desire of locked down Aussies to pamper themselves, Frenchie Wear’s best ever month was in July 2021 – when Sydney was stuck in its eventual 106-day lockdown and while Melbourne was experiencing its fifth snap lockdown.

The loungewear company made $387,000 in revenue in the space of just 31 days.

Mr Tanasi and his girlfriend at a stall selling Frenchie Wear hoodies.

Mr Tanasi went to uni for just four days before deciding it wasn’t for him.

He fell into a marketing role where he helped small businesses get off the ground using social media.

The budding entrepreneur waited until the right idea came along to launch his very own business.

He sourced the hoodie from a Chinese factory and poured $18,000 into the business to bootstrap it.

“All my savings went into it, every dollar I had went into it,” he said.

The business has made $1.9 million in revenue to date.

He was up until 3am packing orders.

To pay for the brand, the young man worked four jobs – in real estate, at his marketing job, at an ice cream shop and also in retail.

A friend of Mr Tanasi’s also put $18,000 in, but he has since been bought out from the company.

By a sheer stroke of luck, by the time the business was ready to launch in June of last year, Melbourne was stuck in another lockdown.

“Leading into lockdown, we knew people would be stuck at home,” he added.

He used his grandparents’ garage to store the products and recalls staying up till 3am packing orders.

Mr Tanasi with his grandparents.

The entrepreneur bought himself a new car.

Frenchie Wear has since expanded its wares to other items for comfort such as socks, sleep masks and pillow cases.

The company, which started out as just e-commerce, has expanded into brick and mortar stores such including at Chadstone shopping centre.

They also just secured a deal with Westfield to be available to order online as well as being at shop fronts in Melbourne and Perth airports.

Its main buyers come from Melbourne followed by NSW, Adelaide and then New Zealand.

Six people work under him directly and he also has a warehouse.

Most days he wakes up at 6am and continues working until 9pm.

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Originally published as How 23yo made $1.9m from lockdown sleepwear idea