Two new directors will take over leadership of jewellery and fashion brand, Polli, after founding designers Tess Lloyd and Maja Rose decided to step down.
The former university friends turned business partners have appointed creative duo Sarah Thornton and Brooke Johnston – of The Finders Keepers markets fame – to take their label into the future.
“After working together for 12 years and building Polli from a market based business to a wholesale business with over 200 stockists worldwide, we felt it was time for a change for us both professional and personally,” Lloyd explains. “Handing over your ‘baby’ to someone else is not an easy decision nor is it easy to find the ‘one’ to take on that responsibility. However, we feel we are so lucky to have found Brooke and Sarah – another design partnership with so much creativity and passion. We can’t wait to see Polli blossom in the future.”
Thornton and Johnston say they are honoured to carry on the Polli brand, calling it a “once in a lifetime opportunity”. They add that it is business as usual for wholesale customers with the same processes in place. Products will continue to be made in Australia.
“Yes of course, this is one of the big deciding factors about taking on the Polli brand,” Thornton explains. “We are strong advocates of Australian and handmade and will continue to maintain the ethos the brand currently represents. At the moment we aim to keep the signature Polli styles as they are – we will build ranges based on these and inject some new ideas and concepts as well.”
Lloyd and Rose’s immediate plans post-Polli are to spend time with their families before their children start school.
“Polli has been such an amazing journey. Highlights definitely include showing our products at international gift shows and seeing our products in the press. Reflecting on the past 12 years it’s the amazing relationships we’ve made with customers, suppliers, other brands and media that we’ll treasure and hopefully maintain into the future. There are so many retailers and fellow wholesalers we now consider our friends and we’ll miss our biannual trade fair catch ups. A huge thanks to all of our retailers for their kind words and support.”
