The provocative sex aid / sex entertainment / intimate apparel industries have changed dramatically over the last 10 years, with eyes turning towards Honey Birdette. A new generation of liberated and sexually informed female customers have been voting with their wallets, snapping up designer sex toys, kinky lingerie outfits and a whole host of what were once considered taboo exotic accessories.
Books and movies like the highly popular 50 Shades of Grey franchise have brought kink out of the dungeons and into the mainstream, and women have shown an unquenchable curiosity to explore sensual delights beyond the vanilla.
Honey Birdette has played a key role in opening Australian eyes to this new sexual revolution. The brand is owned by women and geared towards female consumers, with an emphasis on sexuality, luxury lingerie and, high-end designer sex toys. The provocative adult industry has changed dramatically in Australia, revealing a new generation of liberated customers, and reinventing the adult retail sector.
Honey Birdette began in 2006, with two friends, Eloise Monaghan and Janelle Barboza, who grew tired of searching for high-end, provocative lingerie and luxury bedroom accessories. Honey Birdette aims to inject a sense of sensuality into the Australian bedroom, educating women in the art of dressing and undressing, through a range of products designed purely for pleasure.
Associate Professor Paul Maginn from the University of Western Australia, says there’s been an increase in the number of adult shops, but they’ve also become more visible. ‘They’ve moved from the back streets into the main streets and into suburban shopping malls,’ he tells Life Matters. The shift has moved from a sleazy adult warehouse, to an erotic boutique for invigorating women’s bravado.
The intimate apparel retailer has seen huge success since opening its doors. Honey Birdette has grown from a single boutique store in Brisbane’s West End, to a 45-store retail empire, with over 280 ‘Honeys’ that work across the world. After joining forces with multi-brand Australian retailer BB Retail Capital in 2011, the high-end lingerie brand is looking to open its first international stores in London and Hong Kong.
Eloise Monaghan sees the combination of staff and décor as the upmost important making a customer feel as comfortable as possible. She added, “You’re talking about the intimate details of someone’s life – it’s a privileged position for someone to be in.”
Honey Birdette play a particularly unique role in the recruitment of their ‘Honeys’. The brand boasts the most glamorous incentives and lust-worthy career opportunities, within a self-empowering and sexually provocative environment. The Honeys play the lead role in delivering the Honey Birdette experience to each and every customer, acting as the ultimate facilitators of sexual optimisation, defining themselves as Hollywood starlets, only naughtier. The Honey Birdette staff are reflected more like Dita Von Teese inspired vixens, than retail shop assistants. The Honeys are invited to indulge in the stimulating world that is Honey Birdette, with an application process like no other.
The brand have built their staff culture, unlike any other brand of its kind, handpicking the red pouted bombshells to join their exclusive Honey fleet. Similar to the casting of a modelling audition, girls are asked to apply with a VIDEO application, instead of a generic resume. This is seen as either a sign of the modern age, or an innovative step towards a unique recruitment strategy, Honey Birdette would prefer a one-minute video, documenting a girls personality and why she would be perfect within such a unique and exciting position.
Developing and promoting staff members into related fashion areas is a priority for the business, with a necessity for staff to be both engaging and knowledgeable about the products without being “sleazy”. Honey Birdette staff not only empower the women that walk through their doors, but entertain through the kind of exaggerated playfulness that many fashion brands lack.
The Honey Birdette lifestyle lives beyond its products and accessories, but through the Honeys that serve, and the consumers that wear it.
Honey Birdette’s marketing strategy is just as provocative and sexually empowering as the message the brand conveys. Product shots and flirtatious messages convey the sexual legitimacy of each item. Seductive poses and playful models represent the Honey Birdette brand, showing the sexual potential of each item, as they demonstrate the latest lines of intimate apparel and kinky adult toys.
Honey Birdette’s involvement with it’s customers doesn’t stop once you leave the store. Women are offered sexual tips and tricks in the art of ‘dressing and undressing’, through their social media channels and interactive website. Videos and images show their latest collection of intimate apparel in ‘how-to-wear’ tutorials, as well as constant engagement with customers online; teasing their latest products and notifying consumers as soon as their products become available online. Honey Birdette plays host to a number of online giveaways and competitions, encouraging the consumers to indulge in the HB lifestyle.
Their signature retail boutiques are flirty, playful and unapologetically sensual; sometimes even with champagne on arrival. From the softer accents of delicate lace ranges to the hot n’ heavy textures of their S&M collection, everything including Honey Birdette’s luxury toy collection is designed in house at Honey HQ.
Stay tuned for the major documentary feature on Honey Birdette by Fashion Industry Broadcast in its new multi-part film, book and ebook titled, “Masters Of Fashion: Australians”. There we explore the inner workings and secrets that are driving the multi-billion dollar Australian fashion industry.
Credits:
Photography – John Cody
Models – Natasha, Kirra, Sara and Beth
Stylist – Kc Rei
Fans of designer lingerie can read all about its history history and extensive brand profiles in FIB’s Masters of Fashion Vol 40 Lingerie. Available globally from Amazon books and better book sellers.
