AustrAliAn triAthlete | 53can quality, speed or price differ?
How much of the brand messages are just
pure hype and marketing vs reality? We
wanted to create a brand that offered
improved performance and superior value.
We started sketching designs and
talking to as many elite and age group
athletes as we could about what they
required from a suit. We then started
sampling and testing various designs on
Olympic swimmers and triathletes, plus
age groupers to test our theories. We
quickly proved that we could, in fact, use
higher grades of neoprene in construction,
which allowed us to create faster and less
restrictive suits and deliver them at better
price points. Game on!
AT: What is the philosophy
behind Volare?
Volare: Our styling is a fusion of surf
culture and groundbreaking triathlon
technology; comfort with uncompromised
performance. At Volare we live triathlon,
we are all about great designs, challenging
convention, and having fun. That means
searching for better product solutions that
improve performance, comfort, feel or,
simply, one’s enjoyment. We definitely like
to win, but having fun and enjoying what
you’re doing is just as important.
AT: The name Volare – tell us
about that.
Volare: ‘Volare’ is Italian and means,
“to fly.”
Volare (/vol-r-e/)Verb: Latin and ItalianMeaning:
“to fly.”The brand name came from training and
racing. When people say: “Did you see the
girl? She flew.” Or “that guy was flying on
the bike or run” - it just seemed to click,
and we love Italian design, so it was a
perfect fit.AT: What do you think has been your
most significant challenge so far?
Volare: Walking away from a sound
business to pursue a dream probably isn’t
recommended. But sometimes you need
to back yourself; taking the first step is
definitely hard. The biggest challenge was
perhaps our first sales call. I still clearly
remember catching up with Aaron from Tri
Shack in Brisbane and explaining that we
wouldn’t be distributing someone else’s
brand anymore, as we were launching
Volare. Talking him through the Volare
story, showing him the samples and him
placing an order and really believing in
what we were doing was amazing.
The next challenge has been growing
and dealing with retailers in our offshore
markets. We now have partners in the US,
UK, Dubai, Japan, Australia, NZ, and
Germany. Trying to forecast demand and
getting your stock levels right is
challenging when you’re venturing into
unknown territory. I think it’s really
important to know what your skill sets are
and I was lucky enough to meet Greg, my
business partner while swimming.
It’s been a great matchup - while our views
are the same we have pretty defined roles
and skills sets.AT: What has been your proudest
moment so far?
Volare: Seeing your idea actually happen
and take off is pretty amazing. However,
for me, it’s been about people, athletes
and coaches, customers, retailers and
everyone who has given us a chance or
help along the way. To see our athletes like
Laura Siddal winning an Ironman or RyanSissons picking up an ITU podium while
wearing a Volare wetsuit is beyond
amazing. I really can’t thank Ryan Bailie,
Declan Wilson, Tatiana Marinho, Maddie
Dillion, Sammy Whitting, Annabel White
and all our athletes enough. We are also
immensely proud of being Aussie and that
Volare is now being exported to retailers
and consumers around the world.AT: What are three things you would
like people to know about Volare?
Volare: We are Australian, passionate
about triathlon and on a mission to make
the worlds finest triathlon products.