How did aussieBum start?

Way back in 2000, an unemployed Sean Ashby spent a great deal of his time enjoying the Australian beach culture lifestyle on Bondi Beach. When he discovered to his frustration that he was no longer able to buy the classic Nylon swimwear he always wore to the beach, Sean decided to take matters into his own hands and invest all his life savings into starting up his own business.

The name aussieBum comes from a simple but pretty accurate description of Sean himself at the time! Sean was an Aussie (Australian citizen) and a bit of a Beach Bum (someone who spends most of their time at the beach). Sean initially only sold his new aussieBum swimwear to his mates and fellow Beach Bums. When he later approached clothing retailers in Sydney and around Australia, he was told that Aussies now only wear Lycra swimwear, and there was no longer a market for the Nylon stuff.

Moving forward to 2001 when Sean's savings were nearly exhausted, he decided to build an e-commerce website. The Dot Bomb had recently hit, and many online retailers were closing, but a self-taught and undeterred Sean pushed on with the creation of a fresh and distinctive website packed with appeal for his core audience. He got his mates to help out with the photographing and modelling of the aussieBum swimwear he had designed.

He also sent photos and samples of his creations to media publications around the world to help promote the new aussieBum website. From a slow but steady trickle of new orders, Sean gradually found himself dealing with a tidal wave of orders from all over the globe. The real game changer came when Kylie Minogue's stylist William Baker requested that Sean send over his entire swimwear collection for use in the Slow music video he was styling for Kylie.

The video generated massive media attention around the world, and caught the eye of David Walker Smith who at the time was Head of Menswear for Selfridges & Co London.The international success story of the aussieBum brand after originally facing harsh rejection from retailers in Australia is still a buzzing topic in business. The company now repeatedly wins major export marketing and ecommerce awards in Australia, including the Australian Export Awards – Manufacturing Award in 2007 & 2009, and more recently the Australian Export Awards – ecommerce Award in 2017.

Today the company still manufactures over 1 million underwear and swimwear garments in Sydney, Australia. The growing range now also includes lifestyle apparel manufactured overseas in quality-controlled facilities in Vietnam and Bangladesh. All garments are still designed by Sean at his operations in Sydney, Australia.