I-SPY success with mother-daughter dream team

It was a bit of naivety on both our parts,” laughs Louise Egan as she recalls how she and her mother Paulette began their business venture with I- SPY Clothing in 2014, designing lifestyle, fitness and yoga attire.

“I was so young I didn’t really understand the scale of what we were doing. There wasn’t too much thinking behind it, we just decided to go for it and it’s mad how it has worked out – everything seems like it was meant to be.”

The idea for the business struck Paulette during one of her yoga classes. She teaches the meditative practice at the Strand Hotel in Limerick and at UL where Louise is a second-year business student, as well as at her yoga studio in Clonlara, Co Clare.

“For years I had been thinking: ‘Could I design leggings that are totally non-see-through?’ I wanted a pair of leggings that are like a second skin, you can do anything and they don’t budge.”

As a Clare camogie player, exercising is an integral part of Louise’s daily routine and it was during her transition year that Paulette revealed her business aspirations.

“Louise was working with Gillian Horan, she has a branding agency, and Louise rang me saying: ‘I’m working with Gillian and I’m doing a start-up-your-own business for that week.’ Out of the blue I said: ‘I’ve been thinking of starting a clothes range of non-see-through leggings and yoga clothes.’ That’s where it all kicked off.”

The problem that Paulette saw in yoga also existed in other physical activities and Louise recognised how badly fitted exercise gear impacted confidence.

“You need to cater for everyone, for someone who is sporty and someone who is starting their fitness journey. People would say that they’re pulling up their leggings all the time or tops are too low and straps keep falling; if you’re wearing something that you feel amazing in, it’s going to make going to the gym or running so much more enjoyable. That’s where the whole idea came from, us joining our two passions together, two different sides, but seeing the same problems.”

Starting off

To achieve their goal, Louise explains that the choice of fabric was key.

The duo were thriving on their I-SPY dream, but reality would knock things into perspective.

“When we launched our online store in 2016 we thought we were going to sell out in three days and sure no one knew about us,” admits Louise, who is part of the ACORNS Plus programme that supports female entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland.

“It was slow at the start, we used social media, word of mouth, a little bit of everything and we did a lot of events in the first year. We won a competition with eir in 2017 – they were giving away six stands within their space at the Ploughing for the three days, it was a fantastic experience.”

I-SPY Clothing soon launched a full range, including shorts, a sports bra and half zip as well as its iconic leggings, but Paulette reveals why they had to scale back.

“We cut it back because stock control is a major issue when you have four products starting out and now we’re starting to expand again. We just launched our tank tops, we needed something to match the leggings and we’re doing shorts soon.”

Production

So how does the production process work?

“We would meet with Billy Verlinden, our designer, and tell him what we’re thinking of doing. He would come back with 12 or 13 different designs, we would pick a few, then he would do them in a more concrete design and we would pick one,” explains Louise.

“We send it to China, get a sample and try it out. Generally there would be small changes, like the tank top, the straps had to be made a bit skinner. Eoin Cahill is our sourcer, he would deal with manufacturers so that takes a big load off us.”

Popularity

As word spread about I-SPY Clothing, orders started to flow and the difficult days when money was tight and times were testing soon became worthwhile.

“We’ve had orders from Australia and America. I think our items have been sent to 10 different countries and to every county in Ireland, I’m very proud to say that,” beams Louise.

“The support of blogger Lisa McGowan from Lisa’s Lust List has been phenomenal. We sold out in two days when she blogged about us in August. She’s good to Irish brands and we go to all her events.”

Mother & daughter

Paulette wanted to have a close relationship with her daughters from day dot, and co-founding I-SPY Clothing with Louise has helped her to do that.

“From when my two girls were born, I always said I wanted to have a really full-on good friendship relationship with them,” says Paulette.

“We’ve always had quite a good relationship but from running the business we end up spending so much time together that it has made us a lot closer,” adds Louise.

“We’re in the car together a lot of the time, going someplace or another and we’d always be talking about the business and bouncing ideas off each other. I think if we weren’t in business together we definitely wouldn’t have that, I’d probably be on my phone and we wouldn’t have as much to talk to each other about. If it’s mental busy my little sister helps out with the packing and at the shows,” says Louise

Two minds are better than one, as are two diverse skill sets.

“Louise has everything set up so professionally. It would have never happened for me on my own, I would have never done it,” says Paulette.

“She hasn’t a clue,” jokes Louise. “Paulette is very good at sales and it’s not that she doesn’t know anything, she is just very technically challenged!”

Community

Success tastes much better when shared and while they wish to develop the brand to become a household name in Ireland, the pair would like to be able to give back to the community.

“In five or six years I would love to be one of the top sports clothing brands and to employ people locally,” says Louise.

“We’ve always said we would love to give back to the community, to invest in things like camogie clubs and bring on the community and women’s sport. Sport is such an important part of my life, it has helped me make friends and with my confidence, it’s such a massive thing to be involved in and there needs to be more encouragement.”

To find out more about I-SPY Clothing or to browse their range, visit click here.

Read more

Alison Clarke: brains, business and beauty

Fashion forward: Eileen Style Queen