Inspired by the places and people discovered whilst travelling, designer Virginia Martin founded búl as an Australian label where thoughtful design embraces quality tailored womenswear.
The result? A collection of slow fashion that exudes timeless effortlessness. This guiding creative philosophy has created a product experience with a spirit that is unique to not only búl, but to the vision of Virginia herself.
As Virginia continued to expand her business to four locations and an online store, búl has never lost that spirit.
It all starts with a dedication to quality craftsmanship
Virginia started the first iteration of búl when she was 19. For four years she made all the samples herself, selling to 10 stores locally. After her initial run, Virginia decided to change gears and gain new experiences to inspire her work. She worked in New York and then California, working for Proenza Schouler, Cynthia Rowley, Heatherette and Trovata.
“I came back and wanted to relaunch the business after gaining more experience”
After accumulating more design and production knowledge, Virginia returned to Australia ready to inject everything she had learned into búl.
“I came back and wanted to relaunch the business after gaining more experience” reflects Virginia. “I did that in 2010 and started with a retail store in Melbourne. So I wasn’t doing any wholesale at this point, so I just tried to focus more on retail and then slowly grow to have more stores over the time.”
Design vision guided the retail ethos of búl
Inspired by her travels around the world working under other designers, Virginia wanted búl’s designs to transport people to other spaces.
“The idea of the label was to have something that incorporated my passions; travel and the ocean.”
Each collection is designed based on a different part of the world. So I’ll travel somewhere and be inspired by the culture, the landscape and the architecture.”
“Then we’ll come back and put together a collection and you see the overall feel of it, the colours, the prints and silhouettes, things like that. So it was a fun way to incorporate where I was.”
Accessible and sustainable fashion
This approach helped inform Virginia’s design philosophy; “to be innovative, consistent, environmentally conscious, long-lasting and an unobtrusive, honest beauty”. To this end, búl’s focus on slow and sustainable fashion could be fully realised.
“It’s important for me that we had quality, thoughtful designs for timeless pieces”
“When I started it was obviously to make clothing that was really accessible to women. It’s important for me that we had quality, thoughtful designs for timeless pieces. Slow fashion and sustainability is more key for the brand. We wanted to be approachable for women of all ages and all shapes and to always be able to find something that was suitable.”
“So to cater to a large audience and have women feel that they can come in and find something from head to toe. We do clothing and accessories in a really peaceful, nurturing environment in the stores as well. So that’s our mission.”
Never discount the power of experience
Virginia’s decision to travel and accumulate new experiences is what helped her redefine búl’s vision. For anyone starting a business, whether it be their first or their latest, experience in your field of interest is the key to unlocking potential.
“Get experience in the industry rather than from books.”
“I would say as much experience as possible is key, whatever that may mean for you. For me, I loved doing internships, doing hands-on experience. I spent a few years doing that. I studied a little bit, but I just wanted to get in there, get experience in the industry rather than from books. So I think having a mentor is super important. One or more mentors in different areas of business, design, whatever you want to be doing”.
While formal education can be useful, learning from others is key for Virginia. It’s that practical experience and shared wisdom that has helped her shape her path as an entrepreneur.
“I know it’s scary, but I think you just have to just dive in and do it.”
“When you’re getting experience, don’t jump into something too quickly yourself. You know, you can make a lot of mistakes, I did that and that’s fine and you learn from your mistakes, but it’s often better to learn not to make them from somebody else. That’s when great things happen. I know it’s scary, but I think you just have to just dive in and do it.”
Setting trends and chasing inspiration is only the beginning for búl
Even though búl’s brand is steeped in timeless designs, the business is constantly seeking new inspiration to reach greater heights. With a keen eye on the future and a constant appreciation for where she is, Virginia is poised to lead búl into an exciting future.
búl uses Lightspeed’s POS to manage multiple stores, automate their marketing and loyalty, plus gain invaluable insights from reporting. Want to understand how búl leverages Lightspeed? Read the case study to learn more.
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