About // Our Background
Company: Catherine Manuell Design (CMD).
Industry: Designing luggage, bags and accessories.
Role: Sole owner and designer.
Turnover: An eight-year-old company, CMD has grown at an average rate of 30 per cent each year, now employs more than 20 staff, and has more than 100 different products in its range.
Background: Originally training and working as a teacher, after traveling overseas Manuell returned to Australia and started designing hats 17 years ago. After embarking on another overseas trip, she returned and worked as a freelance designer for labels such as Metalicus, Stussy Sista and Kookai before launching her own CMD brand eight years ago.
Black spells 'classic' in a lot of instances. There are cars that look better in black than in any other colour (okay, perhaps we'll give you an occasional red), bank account balances, and be honest; a penguin suit really has no business being anything else.
But luggage? Well, it can make for a confusing time at the carousel - which is exactly what Catherine Manuell thought eight years ago.
"I've always loved colour, so when I came to buy luggage, I never wanted a black bag, but realised that was basically all that was available," says Manuell. "I thought it was pretty boring."
And a far cry from the range that Catherine Manuell Designs (CMD) now sports. Forget black, think faux red croc, apple green or cranberry alligator, stripes - the list of options is long.
"I never wanted to produce something that was so different it wouldn't appeal, so I like to use clean lines and simple designs, and always make sure that the bags are very practical and functional. But I love to use colour and texture to give them a point of difference."
Starting off in what Manuell describes as a "very small" way, working out of her Melbourne home designing a limited range of bags and accessories, these days CMD has evolved into a much bigger beast. Manuell not only designs and manufactures more than 100 different products, she exports them, can name more than 300 stockists in Australasia, 50 more worldwide, has three Melbourne-based retail stores, and two concept stores overseas - one in Sweden and another in Arizona. Oh, and then there's the 20-plus staff employed to help her do it all.
"No I never really thought it would grow into something quite so large," says Manuell. "I always thought, as long as I was enjoying it and it was working, then I'd stick with it."
In truth, this isn't the first business venture Manuell has turned into a success story. Seventeen years ago, she decided she wanted to design hats. So she did. "I managed to sell them into a shop, and by the time I'd made the delivery they'd already sold a couple."
It was a similar story when she turned her hand to bags, but Manuell can remember the defining moment when she knew she was onto a good thing.
"There have been a few turning points in the business - getting my first order was pretty big! But I think I made the decision to pursue it seriously about seven years ago. I'd just given birth to my daughter and I knew that if I was going to keep the business going, I'd have to employ someone to help me. I'd need to make enough money to pay that person, so it was no longer just about me. When I realised that the business was able to do that, that was pretty satisfying."
That said, like many businesses, Manuell names cash flow as her never-ending problem. She says that while you get better and better at knowing how to manage budgets, it remains a constant consideration. "Because the business has had a fairly steady growth rate from year to year, we're always having to think about cash flow. The time frame from manufacture to payment can be a long one, so there are times when you have to manage the budget more tightly. But it's definitely not something to complain about - growth is good!"
Apart from her canny knack for spotting and coming up with great designs, that growth can also be put down to Manuell's ability to spy some valuable marketing opportunities, ones that have seen CMD product line up for appearances on television shows like Big Brother , Secret Life of Us , Kath and Kym and the up and coming channel nine series, Canal Road .. And then there's the fact that celebrities like Sandra Bullock and Daniel Ratcliffe Megan Gale and Kate Hudson love a good CMD piece of luggage.
"Things like that are exciting," says Manuell. "It all adds up, it's all part of building a growing awareness for the brand, and it's fun to be involved in. I was in London for a few months a wee while ago, and an Australian movie was on the television. One of my bags popped up in the closing shot and that was a thrill. I didn't know it was going to be there, so that sort of thing is always exciting. It's the fun part."
Not that excitement has been thin on the ground for CMD in recent months. Launching CMD-JNR, a younger, colourful label designed with the help of Manuell's seven-year-old daughter Anna-Rose, last year, this year another new line hit the stores - this time one for the men.
"I'm always looking ahead for things that I can do next," says Manuell. "At the moment that means growing the international business and just trying to consolidate what we already have."
In line with the concept stores in Arizona and Sweden, cities which were chosen because of their proximity to CMD's American and European distributors, Manuell has plans to launch an Italian concept store, and is exploring the possibility of franchising her brand in America. "We have also just opened another concept store in Sydney."
On that note, Manuell is the first to admit that CMD is still on a learning curve when it comes to the retail side of things. "When we opened our first store, it was more to sell end of line products, that sort of thing - more of a wholesale outlet. But it grew quite quickly into a full-blown retail store and we realised we needed to stock it with a complete range." Since then, two more Melbourne-based shops have followed CMD's first store in Northcote - one in the Melbourne CBD and another in Hawthorn.
"It still seems a bit crazy to me that we started as a design and manufacture business, and now we're doing retail as well. Luckily I've got a lot of good people around me to make things happen!"
And while luggage and bags make up Manuell's core business, hats are still there, along with accessories like wallets, shopping trolleys, scarves, laptop cases and corporate folios.
"I get my inspiration from all over the place," says Manuell. "I always carry a notebook with me so if I see someone standing at a bus stop or in a café that has a great look, or has done something unique, I can jot it down. I always seem to be writing things down on napkins as well.
"But I also just design pieces that I think I, or people I know, would like to use. And I get to travel a lot, which is great for getting inspiration from other countries."
And what sort of luggage does she take with her for the ride? Safe bet it's straight out of her own range. It seems that when it comes to bags Catherine Manuell's designs are definitely the new black.