Green Hip has now been trading for 5 years! When I first started created Green Hip it was out of desperation and frustration due to the lack of workwear available to women. Today, I am pleased to say that women tradies now have a great alternative to wearing men’s workwear day in and day out. I really can’t believe how far my business has come in only 5 years.
The time has flown by and it’s been exciting and eventful and I wanted to reflect, celebrate and share the growth of my business with my wonderful customers – enjoy the ride!
Year 1 – 2010
After 13 years of working in the horticulture industry I decided to make a change in my life and the life of the rest of my female co-workers. After what seemed to be a lifetime of working tirelessly on my fabric and product design, Green Hip was launched! My innovative fabric and unique fit were a first for womens workwear and has paved the way for other companies to follow. Imitation is the best form of flattery right?
Year 2 – 2011
After the immediate commercial success of the original Hip gear I was privilege to be featured on the 3AW Gardening Show with Jane Edmanson along with some exposure in the Gardening Australia and Your Garden Home Magazine. Additionally, I was able to launch a new Hip Accessory line with our Hip Beanies, locally made from Australian wool. 2011 also brought about the launch of our top selling style – Pants Give and our first National Tree Day planting event. It is so important to my business to give back to the community and the environment and it’s a load of fun planting with the locals too!
Year 3 – 2012
With our growing customer base, 2012 brought about a true juggling act of raising both of my babies, Green Hip and our 1st child a baby girl! Watching both business and baby grow has been a true joy.
Year 4 – 2013
In addition to opening our Online Store and Green Hip’s first stockist, Hip Pocket Laverton, we had the privilege of attending our first open day market at Burnley University. 2013 also brought the launch of our navy blue colour available in our pants and shorts styles. I was also extremely excited to welcome my first employee, Angie, to the team!
Year 5 – 2014
Our 5th year has been huge! It has been all about broadening our Hip family. Not only were we able to gain 5 additional stockists with Hip Pocket Mornington, Thomastown, Cairns, Ballarat and Craigieburn, but we were also able to get out of the office and meet more of our amazing customers by attending monthly NGIV Trade Days, Werribee Mansion Rose and Garden Show and the popular Grand Designs Live Home Show at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. I was able to meet a true industry hero, Kevin McCloud while meeting more new and wonderful vendors. It was a privilege to be a part of so many nationally cherished events for the Green Hip team.
This past year has also been one of extensive product research for new styles. We expanded the Hip Accessory range with the popular launch of our Hip Tradie Cap and Broadrim Hat Launch. Now with a complete women's workwear range, our Hip gear was spotted on Channel 9’s The Block with Jess and Anastasia upgrading their workwear. To add to the excitement, Carly from Channel 7’s House Rules and Channel 9’s Reno Rumble was spotted wearing our gear while working hard on her new projects. Next came something I never thought possible… Green Hip on the Red Carpet! The ever-so-creative Jess from The Block and Reno Rumble wore our gear to this year’s Logies! That was truly a highlight of 2014!
With a head office move to Geelong (a city which has a strong history of ragtrading) and officially introducing my families newest Baby Bump, this really has been a year to remember!
Year 6 – 2015
What’s to happen next…stay tuned.