THE ICONIC CELEBRATES WHAT SUMMER MEANS FOR EVERY ONE AT ITS 2019 SUMMER RUNWAY SHOW

  • International supermodel and trailblazer, Halima Aden, walks her first Australian runway alongside a line-up of leading local talent including Charlee Fraser, Samantha Harris, Bree McCann, Michelle Bagarra, Mason Heaven and Jackson Gallagher
  • THE ICONIC takes its annual runway show, THE ICONIC Summer Show ‘19 with love from Afterpay – previously known as THE ICONIC Swim Show – to Brisbane for the first time
  • THE ICONIC’s runway show coincides with the launch of its first ever Annual Progress Report, detailing the business’ sustainability, diversity and inclusion commitments for 2020 – 2025, to help drive progress and move the industry forward through lasting change

Australia and New Zealand’s leading online retailer, THE ICONIC , today launched its We Are Human Summer ‘19 campaign by celebrating its fourth annual runway show at The Calile Hotel in Brisbane. Known for producing the world’s most body-positive runways, THE ICONIC Summer Show ‘19 with love from Afterpay, marked the evolution of its traditional swimwear line-up to a showcase of both swim and ready-to-wear, highlighting that the Aussie summer isn’t just for every body , it’s for every one . International supermodel and trailblazer, Halima Aden, opened the empowering show with her first Australian runway appearance, and was joined by a cast of incredible local Australian talent including Charlee Fraser (recently named Model of the Year at the 2019 Australian Fashion Laureate Awards), Samantha Harris, Bree McCann, Bruna Lapinskas, Nawal Sari, Isaiah Firebrace and Jackson Gallagher.

While THE ICONIC’s previous shows celebrated ‘self’ and ‘body love’, the introduction of ready-to-wear to its swim runway line-up paves the way for a more progressive and inclusive representation of what ‘the Aussie summer’ means to all of us across the country. From bikinis to beach cover-ups, modest-wear to one-pieces, board shorts and shirts, to swim briefs and beyond, this year’s show embraces all that makes us unique and
highlights THE ICONIC’s commitment to moving the industry forward by showcasing diverse, inclusive and body-positive fashion choices for the season Australia loves best.

Alexander Meyer, Chief Marketing Officer for THE ICONIC, said: “This year’s runway show is another milestone for THE ICONIC. We are so proud of our annual Swim runway shows, so when we thought about what our 2019 line-up would look like it dawned on us that the Australian summer means completely different things to different people, and a lot of the time it’s beyond just swimwear. The Australian stereotype
of ‘bronzed skin and blonde hair’ – while still true in many ways – felt like an old approach to representing summer in Australia”.

“As a progressive and daring retailer, evolving from Swim to a Summer Show to embody all iterations of the Aussie summer highlights our ongoing efforts to be the most inclusive retailer for all Australians. We have a responsibility to our customers to ensure everyone feels valued because, putting aside our perceived differences, we are all human and we want to celebrate this humanity in all of us. We recognise we still have
work to do as we continue to expand our brand and product assortment, but we are proud of the show we have delivered today, and humbled to work with such an amazing line-up of talent.”

In a first for the retailer, this year’s show coincided with the launch of THE ICONIC’s inaugural Annual Progress Report, which defines and transparently shares the business’ 2020 – 2025 sustainability and diversity, inclusion and body-positivity objectives, including THE ICONIC’s progress in these areas to date.

Announced at an industry roundtable held by THE ICONIC in front of 200 guests, THE ICONIC aims to inspire and help move the industry forward by identifying areas for collective change through its transparent approach to the report. Released at the same time annually moving forward, the report will document THE ICONIC’s progress against key targets, demonstrating its ongoing and genuine commitment to driving lasting
change and push for a more progressive fashion landscape in Australia and New Zealand.
THE ICONIC Annual Progress Report highlight activities for change within their operations, based on the
following four pillars:

  1. Ethical Sourcing (social and environmental impacts of our supply chain)
  2. Environment (environmental impacts of our own operations)
  3. Community (our contribution to the social fabric of the world in which we operate)
  4. Diversity, Inclusion and Body-Positivity (our celebration of our people and our customers across
    every touch point)

THE ICONIC’s inaugural Annual Progress Report outlines nine environmental, four ethical sourcing and three community targets for 2020 – 2025, as well as four key areas of focus for expanding its Brand Assortment as part of its commitment to celebrating diversity, inclusion and body-positivity. Such activities include (but not limited to)*:

  • Brand Assortment – Diversity, Inclusion and Body-Positivity
    • Redefine ‘Curvy’ through ‘Real Sizes, Real Brands’ initiative:
      • Influencing and collaborating with at least 20 out of our top 50 brands to implement size extensions within their fashion assortment by 2022.
      • This includes reflecting such change in all of our private label brands by 2020
    • Create a dedicated Modest Edit on site committed to surfacing brands with modest silhouettes in 2020.
    • Enable a fashion assortment for differently-abled people by engaging external consultants and heavily researching the true needs and wants of this customer group by H1 2020, while onboarding known adaptive fashion brands by latest H1 2021.
  • Environment
    • Transition all ICONIC customer satchels to more sustainable alternatives by June 2020 (Environment).
    • 100% of THE ICONIC’s shipping packaging made of recycled content by 2022.
    • 100% carbon offsetting of our own operations and deliveries by 2022.
    • 50,000kg of textiles diverted from landfill via take back scheme by 2022.
  • Ethical Sourcing
    • 90% of private label units made from more sustainable materials by 2025.
    • 50% of THE ICONIC’s entire product assortment meets at least one Considered credential by 2025.
    • 75% of private label factories engaged in training programs by 2025.
    • 50% of workers in private label factories engaged in training/community programs by 2025.
  • Community
    • $150,000 raised for charity partners.
    • 70% of employees engaged in volunteering.
    • 100,000 people supported via charity partners.

Jaana Quaintance-James, Chief Sustainability Officer for Global Fashion Group and THE ICONIC, said: “The launch of our inaugural Annual Progress Report demonstrates THE ICONIC’s unwavering commitment to driving positive and lasting change within our organisation and the Australian and New Zealand fashion industry. This report has been developed as a means to publicly hold ourselves accountable for our commitments, both now and into the future, as well as highlight areas for the wider industry to identify opportunities for making changes in their own operations. Paving a more progressive future for the better of all communities involved is vital for recognising and fully managing to social and environmental impacts of our business. While we’ve made great progress to date, we know there’s still much more work to do, and I’m
incredibly proud of the goals and plans our people have collaboratively designed to achieve for the years ahead.”

THE ICONIC’s 2019 runway featured over 1,000 leading local and international designers including Double Rainbouu, Faithfull, Lee Matthews, Henry Holland, TOMMY Hilfiger, Rayban, Ellery, Henry Holland, Georgia Alice, Manu Atelier, Snow Peak, Aere, Apero, Billini, BWLDR, Fated, Cult Gaia, RayBan, Birkenstock and Converse. The four key trends set to dominate Australian and New Zealand beaches and pools this summer include:

  • Retro Tech
  • California Escape
  • 90s Revival
  • Urban Safari

Trends were brought to life by 30 models ranging from sizes 6 to 16 (women) and sizes medium to extra large (men). Further to THE ICONIC’s We Are Human campaign and celebration of the humanity in all of us, the story of each model was brought to life in a special photographic gallery at The Calile Hotel and further told through a summer content series set to appear on THE I CONIC’s social channels.

All trends and looks are now available here. Customers can choose to pay for the THE ICONIC’s Summer 19’ resort collection via Afterpay, which allows customers of THE ICONIC to buy what they want, receive their goods immediately and pay for it over four, fortnightly instalments. Order now for three and four hour, or same day delivery in time for the first weekend of summer.

Guests travelled to Brisbane thanks to THE ICONIC’s travel partner, WOTIF.

  • Looks from the runway can be downloaded here
  • THE ICONIC’s inaugural Annual Progress Report can be downloaded here

Tags: #THEICONICsummershow #THEICONIChumans
Instagram handle: @theiconicau

*The full list of activities can be read within THE ICONIC’s Annual Progress Report 2019.

-ENDS

About THE ICONIC
THE ICONIC is Australia and New Zealand’s fastest growing and leading fashion destination. Since 2011, it has defined the future of retail by creating a seamless and inspiring shopping experience for its customers. THE ICONIC boasts fast and on-time delivery across Australia and New Zealand, free shipping over $50 and free returns for 30 days, and is also Australia and New Zealand’s most downloaded fashion app. THE ICONIC has thousands of international and local brands and products across Womens, Mens, Sport, Designer, Kids and Considered with 200+ new products arriving on site daily. A proud member of Global Fashion Group, the world’s leader in online fashion for growth markets, THE ICONIC is focused on liberating its customers with endless shopping possibilities. For more information, visit http://www.theiconic.com.au .

About Global Fashion Group
Global Fashion Group is the leading fashion and lifestyle retail destination in Asia Pacific, Latin America and CIS. We connect over 10,000 global, local and own brands to a market of more than one billion consumers through four established e-commerce platforms: THE ICONIC, ZALORA, dafiti and lamoda. Through an inspiring and seamless customer experience enabled by our own technology ecosystem and operational
infrastructure, we are dedicated to being the #1 fashion and lifestyle destination in our markets. With 17 offices and 10 fulfilment centres across four continents, GFG proudly employs a dynamic and diverse team with deep local knowledge and expertise. In the 9 months of 2019, GFG delivered over 24.3 million orders to 12.4 million Active Customers. ISIN: LU2010095458.