Draft:Bardot - Fashion Label

Bardot is an Australian based fashion brand headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded by Carol Skoufis 1996. , the brand started as a brick and mortar store on Bridge Road in Melbourne. The brand now operates globally, predominantly, in Australia and the US women's wear clothing market. In 2004, Bardot also launched a children's occasion wear clothing line called Bardot Junior.

Bardot designs the garments in-house in collaboration with local manufacturers and artisans, pattern-makers and machinists alongside Carol Skoufis as its creative director.

After voluntary administration and later re-purchase of the company by the brand’s original founders, Bardot now operates as an entirely online retailer and wholesaler.

Competitors
Several players in the fashion and women's clothing sector competes with Bardot. Multinational fast-fashion corporations like Zara, Mango, and H&M, are among its main rivals. American stores such as, Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie also competes in the similar market segment. In addition to that, Topshop and ASOS are Bardot's primary competition in the British clothing market. Lastly, fashion brands such as House of CB, Nasty Gal, Kookai and Meshki also compete in the similar market and offer similar style apparel to Bardot within Australian.

Similar to Bardot womenswear brand, Bardot Junior also faces major competition from multinational brands like, Zara Kids, Maisonette, Gap Kids, Huxbaby, Country Road Group and Cotton on kids who are in the children clothing segment.

History
Bardot has experienced significant changes amidst an uncertain time for the fashion industry. After 23 years as a major bricks-and-mortar retailer with 72 stores across Australia and employing about 800 staff, Bardot fell into voluntary administration in November 2019. However, following the brand's re-purchase by its original founder and co-founder – Carol Skoufis and Basil Artemides, Bardot has announced a relaunch as an entirely online retailer in 2020. This move was made to improve brand's online presence, expand its international wholesale business and to reduce its operating costs. Transitioning to an online model allowed Bardot to be free from the constraints of managing a large retail network.

Carol Skoufis, Bardot's founder and creative director, is heading the brand towards producing sustainable designs and adopting sustainable practices, such as using bio-based materials and recycling fabric

International Operation & Affiliation
Internationally, Bardot operates a larger wholesale footprint than Australia, particularly in the US. The brand supplies to department stores such as Nordstroms, Bloomingdale's, and Dillard's, and online retailer Revolve.

The brand is stocked in department stores across Canada, UK and European wholesalers such as ASOS and Next. Within Australia, the brand is stocked at multiple retailers including David Jones, Myer and The Iconic.