Lorna Jane is an active women's wear and clothing retailer, founded by Lorna Jane Clarkson and her husband, Bill. By 2016, the overall value of the business is estimated at $ 500 million, with annual revenues for 2014 estimated at $ 200 million.
By 2015, the chain includes 146 stores in Australia, 42 in the United States, and 54 stocks in other countries including South Africa, UK, Canada and Dubai. Larger stores ("Living Space Active") combine fitness studios ("Move Studios") and health food cafes ("Nourish Cafes"). The company headquarters and main warehouse are located in Brisbane, Australia, with regional offices in the US, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore.
This brand releases between 70 to 100 new designs every month. In 2014, they sell, on average, a pair of their "Flashdance" panties somewhere in the world every 27 seconds.
The company logo is three rhombuses, each with two opposite corners. The shape symbolizes "L" and "J" are united, and three of them together remember the company's motto and mantra "Move Nourish Believe".
Companies do not invest heavily in advertising over the line, preferring to rely on word-of-mouth and build customer engagement through social media.
One of the unusual features of corporate finance is that it brings no debt, a philosophy that Clarkson claims he follows in his personal and professional life.
Video Lorna Jane
Products
Lorna Jane produces and sells a wide range of clothing, including tight pants, sports bra, tops, shorts, pants, jackets and hoodies, shoes, and various accessories. Many items use the company's four-stretch anti-damp stretch fabrics, "LJ Excel". Others incorporate compression fabric and a "power mesh" panel that aims to add stability, support, and smooth to the thigh and abdominal areas. Each of Lorna Jane's outfits has a small heart-shaped bead sewn somewhere; a message to the consumer that the garment is made "with love". The garment style was named after a member of Lorna Jane's team, with one team member saying "Seeing your name appear in the monthly style sheet is as interesting as waking up on Christmas morning!"
The garment was originally produced in sizes up to "L", and by 2014, Lorna Jane introduced the size "XL". Beyond that, Clarkson said he had no plans to produce "plus size" clothing, saying there was no demand from his customer base and that his previous brand effort in this direction was unsuccessful; "If my customers want a bigger size, I will really accommodate, but we have tried it and did not sell it." However, in November 2016, the company published a photo model with a "curved" physique in Lorna Jane's outfit in their Instagram bait.
In 2015, the Australian consumer organization Choice evaluates a pair of Lorna Jane's tights alongside the equivalent of six competitors at various price points. The evaluation found that Lorna Jane's tight pants did not fit well in the fabric test as some of their competitors were much cheaper, though textile experts praised them for their construction.
Since before 2012, Lorna Jane's outfit was produced in Lingbao, China. Three factories there produce exclusively for brands and are operated in partnership with DuPont, which produces yarns. The company prides itself on providing superior conditions for its factory workers, and claims that only three workers fail to return from the Chinese New Year each year, when the norm for factories in the region is "hundreds". Workers refer to the factory as "Lorna Land". Nevertheless, the 2016 Ethics Mode Guide produced by Baptist World Aid Australia ranked Lorna Jane as a "D" rating (on a scale from A to F) on forty criteria related to slavery and worker rights issues, and notes that the company is unresponsive when asked about these things. The company also did not respond when the Sydney Morning Herald asked for comment about the report, but marketing executive and e-commerce manager Jessie Dean told Australian broadcaster ABC that "It is important to us that our manufacturing sources reflect who we are as a brand and our active life philosophy We continue to work together to ensure that our workplace code of conduct protects the welfare of every employee and our environment. "Clarkson said he would prefer to keep manufacturing in Australia, but the closure of the Australian fabric factory and the lack of government support for the industry clothing makes it impossible to maintain.
Despite being asked "two or three times a week", Clarkson says he has no plans to expand into the activewear for men. In another interview, he expressed his personal preference as "I'm like a man to wear a long shirt and a triathlon shorts."
Maps Lorna Jane
History
Foundation
The founder of Lorna Jane Clarkson (nÃÆ' Â © e Smith) was a dental technician and part-time aerobic instructor who was dissatisfied with the sportswear available for women in the late 1980s and began making her own. His design proved popular among his students, who asked him to start making clothes for them as well. In 1988, he decided to start making clothes as a full-time job. When he and his partner, Bill Clarkson, had trouble finding a shop that was interested in selling it, they decided to sell it themselves. In 1990, they opened their first store, upstairs in Brisbane's Broadway on the Mall shopping center.
In 2000, the business needed a larger plant, and to fund this expansion, the Clarksons sold their home and bought a building at Fortitude Valley for $ 465,000. They fix it and within two years, the value of the property is priced up to $ 4 million, which Clarksons can use as a guarantee for further growth.
Expansion and diversification
The company was able to use the 2008 Global Financial Crisis to its advantage. Instead of waiting for improved economic conditions, Lorna Jane continued expansion by taking the opportunity to lease at a profitable location that would not be available to companies in a stronger climate. This strategy led to the largest growth period of the company.
In 2010, private equity firm CHAMP Ventures bought 40% of the company's shares.
In response to the 2010-11 floods in Queensland, Lorna Jane started a charity program in which the company will allow customers to exchange using activewear (brand name) for store credit. The used clothing collected will then be donated to the Salvation Army. Originally intended to run for a week in mid-2011, the "Swap Shop" became a permanent fixture and still running in 2017. At that time, customers had brought over 45,000 clothing for business to pass on to charities.
After a year's consultation with the Wharton Business School and the University of Queensland into a strategy to enter the US market, in March 2012 saw the opening of the first US store in Malibu. As e-commerce replaces traditional brick-and-mortar retail, Lorna Jane adopts an unconventional approach to investing more in physical stores. By mid-2013, Lorna Jane's stores are newly opened in California every three weeks. The Clarksons chose California as the initial entry point of the brand to the US because they found an active and open way of life there similar to Australia.
In August 2012, Lorna Jane launched the fitness tracking app.
In 2013, the company took a 9.4% share of the entire athletic apparel industry in Australia. Consolidated revenues for 2012-13 are set to exceed $ 110 million. Annual growth is maintained above 40% for five years between 2008-13. In the same year, the company introduced the "Living Living Room", with its first opening at Gasworks development in Teneriffe, Queensland, and also launched a series of fashion-forward named "Unique" which further blur the line between activewear and casualwear.
2014
In early 2014, Clarksons and CHAMP considered the possibility of an initial public offering, with bankers presenting an exit strategy for private equity firms. The float was reportedly aimed at returning $ 400 million to business owners. Analyst Brian Walker suggests that the motivation for the buoy may have been a period of time in which the CHAMP should return the funds to investors, or that the CHAMP had forecasted a peak in Lorna Jane's growth rate and chose to exit at this point. When the buoys report began appearing in financial media in February, neither Clarksons nor CHAMP would comment. However, on March 19, CEO Bill Clarkson confirmed to the Financial Review that the IPO had been considered and rejected. In May, Financial Review reported that the CHAMP board canceled the IPO idea after receiving at least five expressions of interest from a large US business in the fitness industry and appointing Credit Suisse to negotiate a sale instead. Over the next four months, they received interest from more than forty potential investors, including Under Armor and Foot Locker. European private equity firm Permira emerged as a major competitor in mid-September. Ultimately, however, Clarksons withdrew from sales when they considered the implications of losing their personal control over the brand. They chose to defend the controlling interests, and CHAMP agreed to maintain its investment level.
In March 2014, the company partnered with a chain of department stores in Australia and the US to begin branding. In Australia, the partnership is with David Jones, and includes a "Unique" line within the in-store concession. In the US, the partnership with Nordstrom, and the additions include representation at one Nordstrom store in Canada and another in Puerto Rico.
In July 2014, the change.org petition was started by Megan Sauer asking Lorna Jane to add a larger size to her range. The petition attracted 2,705 signatures, and resulted in the brand adding a new size, XL. This measure is between the clothes of Australian women 14 and 16, when the average Australian woman is 16.
In August 2014, the company began publishing, with a six-weekly magazine titled Active Living available through its store. The initial print is 75,000 copies.
In August 2014, Lorna Jane began listing her designs for garments and accessories with Australian Intellectual Property as a pre-emptive step to help protect them against copyright infringement.
2015 to serve
Controversy of vacancy advertisement for a combination of "receptionist/fit model"
In July 2015, the company reacts to advertisements for job vacancies. Find the "receptionist/fit model" defined by the maximum breast body dimensions of 87-90 cm, waist no larger than 73 cm and hip 97- 100 cm. Critics questioned the authenticity of the fit model duties and accused the company of including these elements to provide a basis for hiring a receptionist of a particular body type. A Brisbane lawyer who specializes in work and employment laws says that the ad "almost looks like a job advertisement for receptionists in the 1960s," and psychologist Dr. Michael Carr-Gregg called the ad "absolutely insane" , associate it with unhealthy promotions. body image. Lorna Jane defends the ad and insists that the appropriate model requirement is the original vacancy in the business combined with the receptionist's position due to the desire for efficiency, since both positions are only required on a part-time basis. The ad was removed after two days, which Lorna Jane claimed was because the company had received enough applicants for the position. When Clarkson launched his new book, INSPIRED, on the same day, the media were banned from the show unless they had purchased tickets two months earlier, although it was confirmed earlier in the week that they could attend the breakfast launch. Staff Lorna Jane told reporters that Clarkson was "too busy" to answer questions about controversial advertising, and that "Today is all about his fans." Clarkson later said that, in retrospect, he hoped the ad was given a different word, and speculated that the word "fit" had been misinterpreted by critics who meant "physical fit" rather than models for testable outfits.
In the days after the incident, the Brisbane Courier Mail reportedly was contacted by former employee Lorna Jane who claimed that the "terrible bullying" culture was commonplace within the company. Former staff allegedly "senior tactics" of senior staff, persistent "harassing phone calls" from headquarters, employee-based discrimination, and direct orders never to speak to Lorna Jane Clarkson during his shop visit unless spoken to. Lorna Jane refused to comment on this claim.
Accusations of bullying by former store manager Amy Robinson
In September 2015, Amy Robinson, former manager of Lorna Jane outlet store at the Brisbane Airport's DFO center, began legal action against the company, complaining that she was routinely harassed while working there for six months in 2012. She alleged that intimidation was aimed at her weight and that she and others are encouraged to skip meals and live with coffee. He said that the oppression depresses him, that his confidence is shattered, and that he has become a suicide. He's looking for $ 500,000 in damages. The company denies the allegations.
The case was heard in the Brisbane District Court on February 14, 2017. Despite the alleged bullying of his size, Robinson claims that he was also physically wounded at work by having to lift the heavy box, and that he must work through the shift ends, additional child care fees for her. Rebecca Treston QC, representing Lorna Jane shows that in a twelve-page letter to management in 2012, outlining complaints, Robinson never mentioned that she was bullied for her weight. Treston also pointed out that of the 25 chances in which Robinson came out after his shift finished at 18:00, 23 events fell between 18:01 and 18:06, prompting Judge Gregory Koppenol to ask, "You really complain about working one minute extra on November 2, 2012, and an extra two minutes on [other occasions]? "The same time sheet showed Robinson out before 18:00 on 29 occasions. Responding to Robinson's evidence that he had told his doctor that every time he saw Lorna Jane's outfit or logo he would start to shake and experience heart palpitations, shortness of breath, and sweating, Treston showed a recent Facebook post by Robinson showing a picture of his daughter dressed in Lorna's outfit Jane. Lorna Jane's defense denies that Robinson suffers from psychiatric disorders from her job, and that any decrease in her capacity for work is due to hemorrhoids not related to her work, and existing psychological disorders including personality disorders, threshold personality disorders, and obsessive compulsive disorder. chaos.
The trial was adjourned until May 22, when the court to hear evidence from medical experts. The court also ordered Robinson to provide Lorna Jane's lawyers with her Facebook login credentials so they could search for further evidence relevant to the case. Appearing for a defense, clinical psychologist Dr Ursula Oertel describes Robinson having low self-esteem, other people's distrust, a tendency to feel unfairly treated, and likely to hold a grudge.
Claim copyright infringement by Lydia Jahnke
On October 8, 2015, a Brisbane teenager, Lydia Jahnke, complained that Lorna Jane had used her image without her permission. Jahnke, a fan of Lorna Jane, has posted a picture of herself in her Instagram account, where she wears a Lorna Jane shirt and stands up with a victory pose after climbing Mount Mee. Lorna Jane then prints a picture on her shirt, accompanied by the slogan "The woman at the top of the mountain does not fall there". Although Jahnke said he was initially "very excited" to see his picture on Lorna Jane's outfit, he was disappointed that the company did not ask his permission to use a photo on his product. Jahnke said the company claimed that he already knew about the use of the image before the shirt was produced, which he rejected. Jahnke sought advice from the Brisbane Simpsons Solicitors law firm and considered suing Lorna Jane for copyright infringement before the matter was resolved out of court.
Imitators ask women to reveal photos
On October 16, 2015, a 32-year-old Gold Coast psychologist (kept anonymous in press reports) said that he had received unsolicited contact from a man claiming to represent Lorna Jane, offering his work as a model. The man, who identified himself as "Victor" first made phone contact, and arranged a Skype interview with him. "Victor" asked that she send a picture of herself in Lorna Jane's bra and sweatpants, which she did, then recalled, "I am very excited about the possibility of being in Lorna Jane's catalog as I admire the brand and what stands to send photos through. Victor "claims that Lorna Jane is interested in her story because of the way she maintains an active lifestyle while living with rheumatoid arthritis. In a subsequent phone call, "Victor" tells him that he should lose another 5-6 pounds, had to hide the bandages and gloves he wore to support his rheumatic wrist, and would need a shot of Botox to hide his wrinkles before he could model Lorna Jane. At this point, the woman does not want to pursue further offers and says "Victor" to "go fuck her own". The woman says she has no doubt that the man acted on behalf of Lorna Jane, and commented on her professional appearance and attitude during a Skype call. He posted a widely shared conversation account on Facebook. When approached by the media to comment on the incident, spokeswoman Lorna Jane said that the story was "completely incorrect" and that the company was "unprepared to be a threat [ed] by people who lied." He also speculated that the woman might have confused Lorna Jane with another activewear brand, since Lorna Jane only deals with modeling agents and does not approach the model directly. The woman was surprised by Lorna Jane's answer. After direct contact between the woman and Lorna Jane, the company revealed that another woman had been approached by the same man, including two yoga instructors in Hobart, and that they worked with the Cyber ​​Crime Unit of Queensland Police. Lorna Jane expressed disappointment that her initial media accounts had not reported on Victor's false "demand" nature and had received the impression that she was Lorna Jane's representative at face value. The victim said he was "embarrassed" to have been cheated, and felt sorry for Lorna Jane that the media would report that Lorna Jane's representative would say "horrible things like that."
Exploitation of claims by former employee of Vanessa Croll
In November 2015, a former employee of Vanessa Croll complained on Newscorp's opinion website RendezView that she had been "used" by the company. When hired as a personal trainer by the business more than ten years earlier, Clarkson asked him if he would be willing to model clothes for the catalog. Croll agreed, but after finishing the shoot, only $ 70 was offered, which he found inadequate. Nevertheless, he continues to work as a trainer for Lorna Jane and receives occasional modeling jobs, always for what she believes as low wages and sometimes, clothing samples. He also alleged that CEO Bill Clarkson had scolded him for receiving personal payments from sports customers, and chose him out at team meetings as an example of someone with "attitude problems". Croll received one final modeling offer for $ 150 and then looked for another job. He said that he later learned that the shoot is meant to re-create the previous image taken by a photographer who wants to get paid for their work. In this picture, Croll ran a long staircase at Kangaroo Point Cliff reproduced as a wall chart larger than the life size in many of Lorna Jane's stores. Lorna Jane's representative responded to the complaint via Facebook post, explaining that Clarkson had offered Croll modeling opportunities to support his ambition of being a model, and that small payments reflected the small business that Lorna Jane had at the time. This post also claims that Croll did not mention the issue at the time, and branded it "an opportunist who tries to take advantage of Lorna's success". Most of the early reply to Facebook post suggested that this was not a helpful response to the Croll allegations. The day after RendezView publishes Croll article, editor Sarrah Le Marquand claims that the site is "overrun" by other former Lorna Jane employees who want to share stories about their time with the company. Other media responses criticized the tone of Lorna Jane's response on Facebook as "defensive and a little aggressive" or highlighted the trap of accepting payment offers for creative work in terms of "exposure".
Criticism by Universal Society of Hinduism on yoga charges
In December 2015, Universal Society of Hinduism president Rajan Zed issued a press release criticizing Lorna Jane and Sydney Airport for charging for a yoga class that passengers can take in the Lorna Jane Active Living room there. In the statement, Zed said, "the cost of charging for it [yoga] at public facilities like Sydney Airport does not seem right." Sydney Airport replied that the room was operated by Lorna Jane, not Sydney Airport, but it was free for passengers to be used outside of class time. Lorna Jane replied that the company supports anything that encourages passengers to maintain their health.
27,4322855 Â ° S 153,0880405 Â ° E / -27,4322855; 153.0880405 ( Company headquarters Lorna Jane )
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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