Recently, Ali Lennard, our Designer and Owner, attended the Willoughby Council Support Local annual event. Ali was interviewed on stage, and here's what she had to say!
What do you think sets Philosophy apart?
I believe it’s because we design our products for our customers, rather than trying to find customers for the products that we've designed. We do that by thinking about what our customers want and need from their clothing.
Our business tagline is “easy wear, easy care, wear anywhere” and that means comfortable clothes that you can just put on, and feel great in. Nothing needs ironing, as who has time for that! It's all-day wear so you can look as put together at the end of the day as you did when you stepped out of the house.
We also like to sprinkle kindness in every interaction and do this by making every single one of the 30,000 plus garments we produce every year, right here in Sydney. Having a totally transparent supply chain and being able to name every pair of hands that touch the garment, right from my initial design to it leaving the warehouse, is our point of difference, and it’s something we are extremely proud of.
How has your business evolved in the time that you've been working in this local area?
The Philosophy brand is just over 20 years old, I've been designing it for 18 years and began taking on the management too in 2015; before buying the name from the retiring original founders in 2019. I moved us to Willoughby in 2022 as we came out of the pandemic, and as I have said before it was one of the best business decisions I’ve made. We have made ourselves at home here and love the community and ease of location.
We were the original business featured in the Willoughby Council SUPPORT LOCAL campaign last year, and I'm here to tell you that one year on, we've had a successful, award winning and amazing period, and I can accredit a lot of the success since to that.
The personal confidence the campaign gave me, has helped me step out of my comfort zone and into the public domain, and in doing so, the business has flourished with me, not only being the heart and soul but now the face and voice of the brand too.
I now refer the brand as independent, rather than “little” in my terminology and that mindset change, along with the fabulous connections and real business relationships, including a new contractor, that have come about subsequently are a benefit I couldn’t have estimated.
I’d like to publicly thank John, Nikki, Tanya and the entire Willoughby council team for giving this amazing boost to us. I am so very grateful, and know my team are too.
We look forward to more successes in 2025 and to continue to build on these great foundations that we have built along with a local council and community that is so supportive of our endeavours.
