BACKGROUND

AB Enterprises, founded in April 2016, is the brainchild of Helen Anderson and Lara Brockhurst. The pair who have worked together for 20 years, are recognized as true experts in the intimate apparel category with proven success designing, creating and sourcing beautiful lingerie and sleepwear for some of the world’s leading retailers.

Collaboration has been, and will continue to be, AB Enterprises’s focus, working with celebrities, bona fide design icons and premium or mass market retail partners.

Expertise in the intimates category is a time-honoured art, the AB Enterprises team exemplifies this and use their unique skills to help build dreams and visions and make them a lingerie reality.

AB Enterprises brings together exceptional technical expertise, design, brand development, sourcing, sales and marketing to always ensure a successful commercial result.

ABOUT THE TEAM

Helen Anderson Lara Brockhurst Laura Hall
Director Creative Director International Retail Consultant
Helen Anderson has worked in the lingerie and hosiery industry for many years. She has successfully launched many high profile and successful brands into the Australian and international markets including Collette by Collette Dinnigan, Dita Von Teese and Love Kylie. Helen has successfully managed both corporate and private enterprises. Her extensive experience includes an enviable knowledge of product development, sourcing, manufacturing and marketing. Lara Brockhurst’s ability to interpret the lingerie market and design innovative and beautiful product is second-to-none in the industry. She has an intuitive sense of design coupled with strong commercial instincts. Her attention to the fine detail in garment design has resulted in major achievements and recognition for her in the global marketplace. Laura Hall has over 30 years experience in fashion retail and branding having held senior management positions with I. Magnin, DFS Group Ltd (division of LVMH), Burberry London and Polo Ralph Lauren. More recently she has operated as an independent consultant with retail, merchandising, and branding clients at Marvin Traub Associates in New York and also advised on retail strategies for a variety of retail businesses in the UK and in Australia.

OUR COLLABORATORS

Dita Von Teese Collette Dinnigan

Dita Von Teese is a self-styled fashion icon, topping best-dressed lists all over the world including Vanity Fair’s International Best Dressed List 2013. She served as the global ambassador for Cointreau from 2007-2013 and in 2010-2011, she was also the face of Perrier for an exclusive set of limited edition bottles and cans. An advocate in the fight against HIV and Aids, Dita was a MAC Viva Glam Spokesperson from 2006-2008.

She is an authentic glamuse with an insatiable curiosity in, and fascination for, retro glamour which she cleverly reinvents in her own distinct brands. Most notable is Dita Von Teese Lingerie which launched at Myer in Australia in November 2013. Thereafter Dita Von Teese Lingerie rapidly expanded into the US, the UK and Europe and is now stocked in the finest retailers in the world including Bloomingdales, Nordstroms, Dillards, Bare Necessities and Journelle in the US, Harrod’s and Selfridges in the UK and globally via online sites Glamuse.com and asos.com.

Dita is fully involved in the evolution of her collections and is a true collaborator. She is a fashion icon, a designer in her own right and possibly one of the world’s most commercially savvy celebrities fully invested in the elevation of her signature brands.

Without question Collette Dinnigan is Australia’s most acclaimed international fashion designer, in only 22 years, she has earned her reputation as Australia’s foremost and celebrated international designer and style icon. Collette was the first-ever Australian designer to be invited by the Chambre Syndicale de Haute Couture to be a member of the prêt-a-porter association.

Beginning her career in fashion working for the Costume Department of the Australian Broadcasting Commission in Sydney in 1990, she launched her Collette Dinnigan label, which quickly became international. Her glamourous ‘underwear as outerwear’ collection was immediately snapped up by boutiques and department stores in the US, the UK, Hong Kong, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Worn by some of the most celebrated global style icons Kate Middleton, Angelina Jolie, Cate Blanchette, Halle Berry, Naomi Watts and Nicole Kidman, Collette was always a Red Carpet favourite. Collette saw an opportunity to take her unique design skills to a more mainstream market, teaming with Marks & Spencer and Target Australia, 2001 and 2007 respectively, to launch her phenomenally successful “Wild Hearts” lingerie collection.

Collette recently withdrew from the hullaballoo of the high fashion arena and now chooses to only work on projects close to her heart and those that exemplify her unique design talent.

WHAT WE DO

AB Enterprises prides itself on being best-in-class in all we do.

We are conceptualists who design beautiful lingerie brands with an unparalleled in-depth knowledge of the lingerie category. Working hand in hand with our technical team we ensure beautiful concepts are created and delivered on brief and on time and always with the end consumer in mind.

OUR RETAIL PARTNERS

We have been privileged to have worked
with some of the world’s finest retailers

WHAT SETS US APART

We are proudly Australian yet international in our knowledge and
scope, offering an exclusive end to end service of design, sampling and
creativity to all of our partners.

AB Enterprises has a rich history of working collaboratively with celebrities and design icons such as Dita Von Teese, Collette Dinnigan and Kylie Minogue. Trust is central to each of our relationships, our partners know they are dealing with a creative, passionate and highly collaborative team with exceptional category expertise and commercial know how, all essential in today’s competitive environment.

OUR SUCCESS STORIES

Wild Hearts by Collette Dinnigan

Target Australia launch as part of Designers for Target campaign in 2008
Marks and Spencer UK launch - 2009
Successive roll out to Hudson Bay, Canada and Woolworths South Africa - 2009-2010

OUR SUCCESS STORIES

Von Follies by Dita Von Teese

Target Australia launch as part of Designers for Target
campaign in 2013

OUR SUCCESS STORIES

Dita Von Teese Lingerie

Global retail launch Australia, New Zealand, USA, UK, EU - 2013-2015
Bloomingdales New York launch 2014 was their most successful in store appearance eclipsing
Elizabeth Taylor’s fragrance launch
Selfridges concept store in 2015

OUR SUCCESS STORIES

Private Label, Journelle

2015

OUR SUCCESS STORIES

Love Kylie

International launch in Selfridges with in store event for the highly anticipated Body Craze promotion 2003-2004

TESTIMONIALS

"Having sourced the best lingerie brands in the world for our customers for years, we approached the launch of Journelle’s private label with a very clear design mandate - and extremely high standards around quality and fit. [Helen and Lara] proved themselves to be invaluable partners in getting our important first collection to market. They quickly immersed themselves in our brand’s DNA, and used their deep understanding of the industry to guide us through the rest of the process seamlessly. Not only did the resulting product land in stores on budget and on time, but most importantly, it was something we were proud to put our name on and delighted to watch customers fall in love with."

Clare Chambers founder of Journelle stores in NYC

"I choose to work with Helen and Lara as I have great trust in their ability to bring my designs to life and know that the result will be exceptional. It always has been."

Collette Dinnigan

TESTIMONIALS

"In my 35 years involved in the Lingerie Industry, there are very few new brands that enter the market with the level of expectation as the Dita Von Teese brand. Not a fan of celebrity brands myself, I had doubts until I reviewed it. I was literally “blown away” by the design, workmanship and value that this collection offered. I have been approached by many retailers inquiring where they can buy it. This is one collaboration that is a perfect synthesis with intimate apparel and worthy of support. In the hands of Helen and Lara’s team and Dita’s input, there is no doubt in my mind of the brand’s potential. It would be a great loss to our industry to lose the momentum they have built."

Ellen Lewis of Lingerie Briefs.com

"I first met Helen & Lara when they presented the range ‘Wild Hearts’ by Collette Dinnigan to M&S. Working within M&S strict quality standards & procedures is not easy yet they approached the challenges they were presented & found workable solutions; a reflection of their in depth knowledge of the lingerie industry & their professional approach to their work. Always delivering on time, to the right quality & finish & always a pleasure to work with!"

Gillian Ridley Whittle

WHAT THE FUTURE LOOKS LIKE

Dita Von Teese global growth and new category rollout

Collette by Collette Dinnigan Swimwear launch

AB Enterprises Exclusive collections, limited edition bespoke luxury lingerie

Revolutionise the item knicker category

Private label collaborations in USA, Australia and New Zealand

Exciting new celebrity and fashion icon collaborations