Introduction
Discover how Erin Deering co-founded Triangle swimwear and transformed it into a $200 million business success story. In this revealing interview, Erin shares the journey from identifying a market gap to building a global brand, dealing with copycats, leveraging influencer marketing, and the personal challenges that come with rapid business growth.
Founder Success Story QnA
How did you get your job/how did you find yourself doing the work you’re doing today?
Triangle launched back in the idea launched back in 2011 in Melbourne on a beach. My partner at the time co-founder Craig we had our second date and I couldn’t find a bikini. I went shopping and I couldn’t find anything that sat between a surf brand and a higher like Zimmerman sea Foy kind of price point. We got on the beach, ended up chatting about it and pretty much then and there went there’s a gap in the market, this could be really fun why don’t we keep talking about it and triangle was pretty much born that day.
What happened next after the idea was born?
Craig had had previous experience in having a business so that was super fortunate. We kind of started thinking about how we were going to start it and the name and the logo and the designs and all of those things and then pretty early on we realized that we needed to move to Hong Kong to be close to the supply chain. We also knew that we really wanted to have a crack and we wanted to do it properly and if we stayed in Melbourne with our identities here and our friends and our distractions we wouldn’t really commit so we packed up everything sold our small number of possessions and moved to Hong Kong.
How did you come up with the brand, the logo, the name?
Craig is you know all credit to him he’s a true true creative and just loves to come up with logos and names and visuals and really you know like he did another 10 ideas during the triangle days for other things, loves it. So that kind of was really down to him. We came up with that pretty early on and when we got to Hong Kong that was really all about getting the samples and finding the money to start to manufacture something to get it out there.
How long did it take from idea conception to first customer to launch?
Idea conception was 2011 in October November and then we sold our first bikini online in January 2013. It was a while. That first half of 2012 when we were in Melbourne that was just getting ready to move and so that was exciting and there was so much potential. That second half of 2012 was incredibly stressful because we’d given everything up we were in Hong Kong we were flat broke we didn’t even have money to go back home and we knew we couldn’t go back home we had to try everything to get this brand to launch.
What was your minimum quantity (MQ)?
It was really we were so fortunate it was really really low it was like 400 pieces which now doesn’t happen at all and that’s a real hurdle for people. We found an amazing manufacturer in China, we went to trade shows in the start and just sampled with a few found a really good one. They ended up completely screwing us. They copied us and they started making our products on the side and selling them in China and tried to register our name in China so we learned about IP and trademarks in a really painful way.
How did you work through the copying issue?
When Brands like Victoria Secret copied us and they were very very aggressive and doing every single bikini that we did and just copying us straight up. We tried to take them on legally but you realize you’re about to go down an incredibly expensive path. What we have to do as a brand is innovate keep pushing forward know that we created that they don’t have the talent to keep creating because they’re copying so let’s keep creating. We’re really fortunate to be able to keep doing that and deviate and move away from what we were doing.
How did you get your first sales?
It was friends and family, we did launch our website but obviously our social media was tiny. It was a lot of Word of Mouth. We always had this tagline that we wanted to sell one bikini a day because that would match our salaries that we were making back in Melbourne. So we with without having that crazy expectation everything felt quite attainable and achievable.
Where did you get that step change in growth?
Our biggest kind of step growth would have been probably the social media impact of the Kardashians or more so Kendall Jenner. We really catapulted when we had Kendall Jenner post about arinis and then that really launched us into the states. By then we were already pretty solid in Australia we had a pretty good customer base we had a great mailing list but the States was really because of that power factor of Kendall.
How did the Kendall Jenner post come about?
We were gifting without any expectation of a post in return. We were very clear on that we would say we’re sending you this please don’t unless you you know don’t we don’t need you to post it we just want you to have it we think you’ll love it. We reached out to all of her friends and they were girls that didn’t really have followings. Two of them are actually Bella Hadid and Haley Baldwin now Bieber but they were just Kendall’s friends. We gifted them and then hoping that Kendall would come and chase us down and she did. She emailed me got my email from one of the girls who we gifted and said all my friends said these bikinis can I get some too they’re amazing.
As the business grew, where did you build your team?
We set up a supply chain office in Hong Kong but only in like second half of 2014 is when we really we were still working out of our apartment before that. We kept it really really lean really tight really flexible because we knew we just didn’t want to go too far ahead on anything just in case. We had about five or six people in Hong Kong and that was it and then just Craig and I and no one else there. There was no marketing no social media it was still predominantly me with a team of girls that were doing the customer care in the Philippines.
How did you know when it was the right time to launch new products?
We launched with nylon spandex like standard bikini fabric. It was kind of cool kind of cute but it didn’t have that like it Factor. Craig was obsessed with fabric and trying this and trying that and landed on neoprene. We were the first ones to obviously take it into the mainstream market. We knew when we made them and when I put them on you just you just we said that feeling it’s like oh this is it. It looked so good on the body so smooth, the lines were lovely, it looked like nothing anyone had really done before.
How did you guys manage cash flow around the rapid growth?
We were always cash flow positive from launch we never borrowed apart from the initial. We weren’t spending much money ourselves we were living super lean. Craig had really worked on getting our costings super super super low so we were able to gift and you know we had no other overheads so cash flow we just kept growing out cash really and not spending it because we were loving watching it come in. The more we made the more we put back into making more styles doing better photo shoots yes hiring better models getting better photographers.
Can you share some of the struggles personally with the growth of the business?
When the brand became so big and huge and it kind of outgrew me and I didn’t know where I fit in and that was happening at the same time as making a ton of money and all this success and I had my first baby. From the outside every box was being ticked but I was completely internalizing how I was feeling. The best thing about triangle that I took away from it was that it does not matter what your material successes are if inside just isn’t working it just really doesn’t matter.
What’s the plan now after exiting the business?
I took four years off. What I really want to do is make women especially in business feel less alone less isolated more empowered just better about themselves. I’m moving into mentoring, investing, advisory. I really want to tap into those women and just make people feel better about what they’re doing. I’ve been doing a bit of mentoring I’m setting up my website I’m moving into a few different structures. I really feel like triangle was there for me to now do this, this is what I’m really ready to do.
What are common mistakes you’re seeing e-commerce brands make in 2022?
A lot of people are starting a business with the wrong intention. People underestimate the customer journey and nurturing a customer. If your products amazing but you don’t nurture your customer they’re not going to come back to you. Someone else will make a similar product and they’ll do it and then they’ll just go there’ll be no loyalty. I think Brands need to focus on that connection with the customer and building up loyalty and that word of mouth kind of intangible connections that you’re making.
How would you approach influencer marketing right now?
Influencer marketing I think it’s still really important and valid and you can get a lot of traction there but again I think it comes back to the intention and making the experience amazing. You can tell the ones that are really genuine. I’ll get messages from women saying I’m starting this brand and it’s mine and I’d love to send you something and you can feel that they just want me to try it because they value my opinion versus the ones that are like hey we want to send you this and can you tag it and it’s just so transactional.
What would you say to people who say influencer marketing doesn’t work?
It does it just takes time it’s not an overnight thing. Persevere with what you feel is right and tune into that gut feel like you know when you’re doing the right thing or you’re on the right path. If they say the influencer marketing is not working it’s like what what isn’t working about it because it’s either the way they’re reaching out to an influencer or who they’re reaching out to maybe they’re going through all the big fish or they’re going for particular type who’s not even aligned with what they’re selling.
How would you get well-known celebrities to post about your brand?
It’s a different landscape now. In the states it was really handy to have a PR agency and they did like a gifting Suite. Their retainer for us was five grand a month US. It was really helpful because in the states they operate more in that way whereas in Australia it’s more direct influencer. In the states if you really want to get say on a Kardashian find agency that they’re pulling from or their stylists are pulling from and sign up with them. They do sweets for Coachella they’ll do a sweet for Miami swim week and the celebrities or the stylists come in and they just pick a bunch of stuff.
How come you guys didn’t sell the business when speaking with private equity?
It always got to a point where we would have these numbers thrown at us that were pretty high. We’d sit and go what do we really really value about our day and it was having freedom and having no one to answer to and not having a boss or another person. We knew that if we brought anyone else in majority minority it would just mean that we had to be accountable to other people and that was really we didn’t want it and no amount of money was going to shift that for us.
Erin Deering Business Stats
Triangle swimwear grew from a simple idea on a beach to a global sensation generating impressive revenue. The business reached approximately $60 million USD at its peak, with seasonal fluctuations due to the nature of swimwear sales. What’s remarkable is that this level of success was achieved with an extremely lean team and minimal initial investment.
- Peak annual revenue: $60 million USD
- Started with just 400 pieces of inventory
- Initial investment borrowed from friends
- Remained cash flow positive from first sale
- Team size stayed small despite massive growth
| Metric | Value | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company Founded | 2011 (idea), 2013 (first sale) | ||
| Peak Annual Revenue | $60 million USD | ||
| Initial Inventory | 400 pieces | Team Size at Peak | Under 15 people |
| Startup Costs | Minimal (borrowed from friends) | ||
| Primary Market | Australia, then expanded to US |
Erin Deering Method
Erin’s approach to building Triangle swimwear combined product innovation with strategic marketing and authentic relationship building. Her method focused on creating something unique in the market while maintaining lean operations and a genuine connection with customers.
- Identified market gap between surf brands and high-end swimwear
- Relocated to Hong Kong to be near supply chain for better control
- Pioneered neoprene material for mainstream swimwear market
- Leveraged organic influencer marketing without paying for posts
- Maintained extremely lean operations despite rapid growth
Erin Deering Tools
Throughout her journey building Triangle, Erin utilized various tools and strategies to manage growth and connect with customers. Her approach prioritized authentic engagement and efficient operations over complex systems.
- Instagram – Primary platform for organic growth and influencer outreach
- Live Chat – Implemented early on website for intimate product customer support
- PR Agency – Hired in US for celebrity gifting opportunities ($5,000/month retainer)
- Word of Mouth – Leveraged organic customer sharing as primary growth channel
- Direct-to-Consumer Model – Focused on DTC rather than wholesale for better customer connection
Key Notes
The journey of building Triangle swimwear offers valuable insights for entrepreneurs looking to achieve swimwear business success. Erin’s experience highlights both the opportunities and challenges that come with rapid growth in the fashion industry.
- Innovation is crucial – competitors will copy, so keep creating
- Focus on product and customer experience equally for long-term success
- Authentic influencer relationships can be more valuable than paid partnerships
- Lean operations allow for flexibility and faster decision-making
- Personal fulfillment matters as much as business success
Get Started in Just 5 Steps
Inspired by Erin’s swimwear business success? Here’s how you can start your own journey in the competitive swimwear industry following key principles from Triangle’s growth story.
- Identify a genuine gap in the market that you’re passionate about filling
- Develop a unique product with innovative materials or design elements
- Build authentic relationships with influencers through genuine gifting
- Focus intensely on customer experience and direct communication
- Maintain lean operations and reinvest profits into product development
Conclusion
Erin Deering’s journey with Triangle swimwear demonstrates how identifying a market gap, innovating with product design, and building authentic relationships can lead to extraordinary business success. Her story also serves as an important reminder that true success encompasses personal fulfillment alongside financial achievement. For entrepreneurs seeking swimwear business success, Erin’s experience offers valuable lessons in innovation, authentic marketing, and maintaining operational excellence while staying true to your values.