Une Piece Pty Ltd
TypePrivate
IndustryApparel manufacture and retail
Founded2016
FounderCarly Brown
Headquarters,
Area served
Worldwide
ProductsAthletic apparel (swimwear)
Websitehttps://www.unepiece.com

Une Piece is an Australian retailer of women's swimwear, founded by Carly Brown in 2016. The brand's signature product is a one-piece swimsuit with long sleeves; the upper half of the suit resembling and functioning as a rashie. The suit provides its wearer with UPF50+[1] sun protection for their arms and back, and a zippered front offers a selectable amount of protection for the chest.[2] The "Original Sexie Rashie" design attracted favourable review in major fashion publications including Vogue,[3] Elle,[4] Marie Claire,[5] and Vanity Fair,[6] and won Brown second place in the Queensland University of Technology's Bluebox annual innovation challenge for 2017.[7] Brown later named the Huffington Post, London Times, and Vogue reviews as giving her a sense of validation.[8]

The suits are manufactured from a 4½ times chlorine resistant Italian fabric[9][10] and feature 28 pieces in their construction (compared to four in a typical rashie).[11] This structure is intended to "flatter and conceal", as a reviewer in The Times put it.[12] The design went through eleven iterations before being finalised[13] and is manufactured in a wide range of sizes: (Australian) sizes 6 to 18.[14] The broad range of sizes was a deliberate choice by Brown to make the product as accessible to as many women as practical, stating in an interview "It's not fair just because you aren't a size 8 or 10, you can't get access to beautiful products".[15]

Prior to founding Une Piece, Brown was a marketing manager for The Coca-Cola Company[13] and Revlon in London,[16] and a senior marketing manager for Uber in Australia.[16][17] The idea for the Une Piece design came to Brown when she was holidaying in Europe.[1][11] While undertaking market research for the product, she amassed a waiting list of over 500 buyers, convincing her of the product's viability.[1][18] The initial production run sold out within a week of availability[18] with future buyers facing a wait of over a month for the second run.[18] She left her position at Uber to work full-time on Une Piece in July 2016.[12]

The "Original Sexie Rashie" design was later joined by two variations with back zips in place of the front zip: the "Surfe Sexie Rashie" with a higher neck, and the "Twist Sexie Rashie" with a low-cut neck and twist detailing on the front. Une Piece also manufactures a conventional, halterneck one-piece swimsuit based on their "Twist Sexie Rashie" design.[19]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Champ, Nicky (31 March 2017). "How Carly Brown created the sell-out demand for her start-up Une Piece". Business Chicks. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  2. Preston, Kahla (11 December 2016). "The days of the 'daggy' rashie vest are well and truly over". Mamamia. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  3. Murdoch-Smith, Lauren (14 July 2017). "What We Want Now: The Surfer Girl Swimsuit That Flatters Everyone". Vogue. Condé Nast. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  4. Gandini, Elena (28 March 2017). "Il costume da bagno che tutte vogliono: è sold out in una settimana" [The swimsuit that everybody wants: sold out in one week]. Elle. Hearst. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  5. McClelland, Anna (12 December 2016). "This one-piece has a 500-person wait list – and you're going to want one too". Marie Claire. Pacific Magazines. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  6. Sahli, Essia (27 March 2017). "Il costume da bagno con lista d'attesa" [The swimsuit with a waiting list]. Vanity Fair. Condé Nast. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  7. "2017 QUT bluebox Challenge announce Winners". QUT bluebox. Queensland University of Technology. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  8. "UNE PIECE QUT bluebox Challenge Finalist 2017". QUT bluebox. Queensland University of Technology. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  9. Yazxhi, Nikki (27 July 2017). "glow & tell: CARLY BROWN, FOUNDER OF UNE PIECE". Bellamumma. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  10. "The Original Sexie Rashie Black". Une Piece. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  11. 1 2 Taeuber, Amy (12 December 2016). "The Australian Swimsuit More Than 500 Women Queued To Buy". 97.3fm. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  12. 1 2 Harrison, Bridget (27 May 2017). "A swimsuit with sleeves: what we'll all be wearing this summer". The Times. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  13. 1 2 Mitchell, Simone (12 December 2016). "The Australian swimsuit more than 500 women queued to buy". MyBody+Soul. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  14. Austen, Ashleigh (16 November 2017). "This Is The World's Most Flattering Swimsuit, According To The Internet". Whimn. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  15. Campbell, Leigh (20 March 2017). "The Aussie Swimwear Label That Had Hundreds On The Waiting List Before Launch". Huffington Post. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  16. 1 2 Mackerras, Julia (11 July 2017). ""Be yourself, and do something you love," UNE PIECE founder, Carly Brown". Queensland University of Technology. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  17. Wilkins, Bridie (22 March 2017). "500+ Women Were On The Waitlist For This Swimsuit". Look. Time. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  18. 1 2 3 Tutty, Jacinda (27 February 2017). "Beach fashion: Brisbane label takes 'world's sexiest rashie' global". The Courier Mail. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  19. "What's New". Une Piece. 5 September 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
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