This year’s Business of Design Week in Hong Kong features Australian designer Dog & Boy.
From its origins in South Melbourne, the scarf brand Dog & Boy has grown into a global product - manufacturing offshore and selling online.
Sonya Michele, the founder of Dog & Boy, is showcasing her autumn-winter collection for 2019, a range of fine scarves made from Australian merino wool.
Part of the collection includes a collaboration with textile design students from Melbourne’s tech institute, RMIT.
Small Business Secrets first met with Sonya in April of 2018. She explained the idea was born from her own dissatisfaction with scarf options.
“I’d been in the corporate world for quite a while and just wasn’t satisfied with it," says Sonya.
“And literally one fine day in the dog park I said to a friend, 'I can’t find scarves - I love scarves but there nothing interesting out there'."
"She said to me, ‘just make your own.’”
The idea stuck, and she went on to create premium scarves, named after her own dog and boy.
Earlier this year, Sonya attended the first all-female trade mission to China. That tour linked Sonya with Asian businesses, and helped her to expand by selling both online, and now offline via Asian showrooms and distributors.
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