How the “George-Effect” put kids swimwear brand Sunuva on the global fashion map

Kids swimwear brand Sunuva was founded by entrepreneurs Emily Cohen and
Sabrina Naggar in 2008 after meeting on holiday and discovering by chance
that their children knew each other from nursery. Having bonded over their
mutual frustration at the lack of stylish and protective swimwear for
children, they decided to launch their own brand. Sunuva specialises in UV
protective swim- and holidaywear alongside an array of accessories and is
not only stocked in some of the world’s best stores and resorts, but also
boasts an impressive list of celebrity parents and kids, including the
Beckhams, Madonna, Gwen Stefani, the Cowells and even Royalty, no less.
However, it was when Prince George was spotted wearing a Sunuva outfit that
catapulted the brand into another league altogether. FashionUnited chats to
Cohen and Naggar about the “George-Effect”, how they continue to evolve and
develop the brand and plans going forward.

You met on holiday and recognised a gap in the market for stylish UV
protective kids clothing – how did you turn the idea into reality?

Emily Cohen: We were on holiday and my son and one of Sabrina’s sons
were chatting away – they were 2 1/2 years old at the time – and we
realised that they actually knew each other from nursery, however Sabrina
and I had actually never met. We were just having a laugh and sharing the
same frustration about how dreadful our kids looked in these awful UV rash
vests / surf outfits, and commented that it was such a shame that no one
does nice swimwear for kids with that UV element. We sowed the seeds and
started researching the concept, and a few months later set up the
business.

Sabrina Naggar: It was a huge learning curve because neither of us had
any experience or clue about manufacturing clothing. We had to learn about
the technical aspects – UV materials are very technical – who makes it,
where to find a factory who can make it for us etc. It was a lot to take in
and organise.

Emily Cohen: That whole process took nearly a year. The biggest
challenge initially was trying to convince a factory to work with you when
you have no idea what you’re doing and you don’t have any quantities to
give them. But actually our factories today are the same ones that we
started the business with ten years ago. We’ve very much built our
businesses together. And interestingly, we are now the biggest customer for
both factories – we have one for cotton in India and one for swimwear in
Tunisia – which is really nice and gratifying. We have helped each other to
grow our businesses together over the years.

Did you have a fashion background prior to launching Sunuva?

EC: I have always had entrepreneurial spirit in me, I guess, probably
because I’m unemployable. Prior to launching Sunuva with Sabrina, I
actually launched a cosmetics brand, Pout, which I sold to Victoria’s
Secret, and I also ran a make-up line for Topshop. And before all that, I
was in celebrity PR.

SN: My background is very different. I trained with PWC as chartered
accountant, and also left to set up my own business. I had a costume
jewellery business that supplied High Street stores, and then I stopped
that to have my four kids in the space of four years. I then developed a
property portfolio, which I was able to run around the needs of my family,
and then, when my daughter was 18 months, I met Emily. I was rearing to go
and looking at different opportunities.

Do you look after different areas of the business?

EC: Obviously, in the beginning you’re guilty of handling every single
aspect of the business yourself; we had no choice, it was just the two of
us. Ten years on, we are an office of 17 people, so there is a very
different dynamic. Therefore, Sabrina and I have defined roles, though
creatively, we work together on all the designs, that’s very much a
collaboration. The style of the products and the feel of the brand is very
much our DNA, a reflection of the two of us. In addition, Sabrina looks
after all the swimwear and production element, and I look after all the
cottons, ready-to-wear and accessories production and development. Sabrina
handles the finance stuff, I do things like photo shoots and marketing,
that’s how we’ve split it.

How does Sunuva differ from other brands?

EC: There’s nobody who does what we do. We very much are positioning
ourselves as a one-stop-shop for stylish holidaywear for kids, whether
that’s swim, sun protection, going out for breakfast / lunch / dinner, on a
yacht, in Ibiza, in the Caribbean. Basically, anything and everything that
you might want to dress your kid in on a stylish holiday.

SN: We are real experts in kids. We test everything on our own kids,
everything we do is very practical, from the size of our beach bags to
backpacks, a lot of thought goes into it and is designed from a Mum’s
perspective. We’re considered to be experts in lifestyle.

How big is the collection each season and how has it evolved over the
years?

EC: We do three collections a year, we basically have a resort or cruise
range, which launches in time for winter sun, then we have our main
spring/summer collection, which is launched in February, and then we’ve
just started a much smaller high-summer splash, which goes out in May.
Every year we try something new, so for example, in the last year and a
half we have launched a teen collection, which is aimed at 9 to 15-year
olds; we have also launched a baby collection, which incorporates specific
baby prints, baby garments, baby shapes, etc. We’ve massively grown and
extended our accessories category, too. We’re always looking for novelty
and innovation. In addition, we have just started doing Mini-me ranges, so
a very small collection of coordinating kaftans and dresses for Mums and
daughters and swim shorts for fathers and sons.We really try and keep it
new and fresh and try things that are relevant, and if they work, then we
basically increase that category.

You’re 11 years into your business – what have been the biggest
challenges and milestones?

EC: To do what we’ve done you need balls of steel. Because it is just a
rollercoaster. You can have some of these unbelievable things happen, like
the Royal Family stick Prince George in one of your outfits and all of a
sudden you’re in the global arena like you just can’t imagine, but three
months later you’re strapped for cash because cashflow is always an issue
for a small business. It’s navigating new situations all the time. And just
when you think things are looking good and rosy, something happens. It’s
not for the faint hearted. It’s an enormous sacrifice when you decide to
set up your own business, and even though Sabrina and I are now ten years
on, we have a great team, the company is profitable, and all of that,
you’re never out of the woods, you’re always going to need to reinvent
yourself,or come up with the next best thing because there’s always someone
snapping at your heels.

SN: And it’s incredibly stressful when you’ve got young kids as well,
managing your family and managing the pressure of your business – it’s a
lot to take on. But we love it, that’s our DNA, that’s the way we
function.

EC: Over the last two years we have totally transformed our web
business, this has been a big milestone, because the first six or seven
years were purely wholesale driven. Another big milestone was the “Prince
George Effect”, that was unbelievable, I can’t even begin to explain how
transformational that actually was and how people actually respond to an
endorsement like this.

SN: When we hired our MD, Bunty Stokes three years ago, that was also a
massive milestone. It was a very big hire and a very important role for us
to fill. Bunty has brought years of experience at the likes of Mulberry, TK
Maxx and Brand Alley to the table; she is extremely commercial and
extremely gifted at managing and running a team. She’s brought more
structure and processes to the business at a crucial point in our
development and allowed Emily and I to focus more on the creative side,
rather than being bogged down with the operational considerations and day
to day running of the company.

What is your focus in terms of distribution and growth?

EC: E-commerce and wholesale are our two main anchors in terms of
distribution, but we’re also planning a few pop-ups in the summer as a
retail experience, but we’re just at discussion stage at the moment. We
currently have over 400 wholesale accounts across the world. We have all
the big department stores, whether that’s Harrods, Selfridges, Le Bon
Marche, Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman and all the international stores, but
then we also have a very big resort-based wholesale business; we work with
the One & Only, the Riz Carltons, Necker Island, Sandy Lane and so on,
which is also a very important aspect. And then we’ve got some really
fantastic online accounts like Childrensalon, Melijoe, Farfetch – the
‘Net-a-porters for kids’, basically.

SN: We still have huge potential for growth, even just looking at the
resort business, there are so many resorts around the world, so we want to
focus on growing both sides. However, we want to become a digital-first
business, so e-commerce is a massive priority for us. But obviously we
don’t want that to be at the expense of wholesale, so we have to keep that
going and grow it as well.

EC: We haven’t really even tipped the iceberg on wholesale. There are so
many countries around the world. That said, it’s much better to be in fewer
countries and have a bigger market share within than spread yourself too
thin. The US is a very important market for us and one that is getting the
most attention and investment at the moment. We also do very well in the
Middle East and Northern Europe – Germany is a massive market for us. So
we’d rather just grow and develop that before jumping at the next
country.

What is your future outlook for the business?

SN: For us, personally, we’re actually in our most solid position we’ve
ever been. Our cashflow concerns are because we’re growing and we have to
consider how we are going to fund that growth, but we are in a very good
place – touch wood. We’ve been very careful in the way we have grown
operationally and made sure that we have solid foundations.

EC: You read articles and interviews with business people and
entrepreneurs, and it all sounds warm and fluffy, but the reality is, it’s
been really hard work to get to where we got to. It’s been very
challenging, we’ve made sacrifices along the way. Luckily, we both love
what we do, but it’s a tough journey, which is why I say you need balls of
steel, because there will always be ups and downs when you run your own
business. Someone said to us it takes ten years to grow a brand – well, we
really feel that. It took ten years, but we’re in a great place now. But
the journey continues.

Photos courtesy of the brand