After launching just over a year ago, Australian beach accessory brand Epoch Collective is preparing to expand into the competitive US market.
The brand, which produces high-end round beach towels and tote bags, nearly didn’t get off the ground say founders and newlyweds Eliza and Scott Seward.
“We were both working fulltime jobs when we launched last February,” explains Eliza. “I was four months pregnant with our first bub, dealing with persistent hyperemesis and in hospital every second day on a drip just to stay hydrated.
“Scott was stuck doing a three hour commute to and from work each day. It was a struggle to say the least.”
While it was already hard enough juggling life and their growing brand, things got more difficult when Scott was made redundant the same afternoon Eliza started her maternity leave.
“We were totally blindsided by the whole situation,” says Scott. “We were officially at meltdown status.”
Determined not to be defeated by their situation, the pair decided to commit to developing Epoch Collective, juggling a newborn baby and their business.
They began with the goal to “create a range of the most beautiful towel designs you have ever seen, something more than just beach towels”, and raised the brand’s profile through social media, which attracted stockists, and are now ready to continue their growth through an expansion into the US.
To kick things off, the pair managed to get their towels featured at the invite only Coachella music festival side event, Vestal Village, where VIPs and bloggers were exposed to the products.
Epoch Collective will officially hit American shores in June this year, just in time for the northern hemisphere summer.
By Ruth Cooper
