For Tracey Hocking’s Lazybones design range, the sky is the limit as Byron goes global…Browsing through the Lazybones shop in sleepy Brunswick Heads I keep being swept by waves of nostalgia.Everywhere there are designs that remind me of my childhood – of my mother’s floral print dresses, of our curtains and tablecloths bedspreads. For Tracey Hocking, the creator and owner of Lazybones, it is exactly the emotional response she wants for her work. “I’ve always be inspired by the 1920’s to the 1950’s in clothing and fabric,” she says, “and when we can source it we always use original fabric.”
It all began 15 years ago with a fine black teacup printed on white cotton voile and made into a beach-shirt which was so comfortable, loose and cool that those of us lucky enough to own one, treasured them for years.
Tracey quickly realised that with pyjamas she had hit an expanding market, and as the business grew she made the decision to start her own factory in Bali so that she could make her workers were all working in great conditions. The factory, which was designed and built from scratch, has been extended three times, with accommodation built for out-of-town employees. Tracey’s friend and manager, Nyoman, oversees the Bali venture which now employs over 50 people.
“The pyjamas were so popular that it gave us the courage to begin to branch out,” Tracey says. “Now we do bed-linen, our women’s range, kids wear, cushions, quilts – almost anything you can think of!”
For sometime Tracey commuted to work in Byron Bay from her home in the small hinterland town of Clunes, but when the business took off she decided to build a custom-designed shed where she could design and make prototypes of all her clothes. It was a great move, she says. “I can spend more time working and more time with the family – and with everything on the spot it’s given me a chance to work on diversifying our range even more.”
It was hitting the U.S market which has allowed Tracey the enviable lifestyle of living locally and working globally – Lazybones was given a stall at the New York Trade Fair in 2008 and from that picked up the U.S outlet, Anthropology, which has 116 stores, state-wide.
In the past few years the growth of the business has surprised even Tracey, originally a Fine Arts student who branched into design.
“I never really wanted to have a big business,” she says. “In fact a while back Harvey Nichols in London asked me to do a range for them and I said no. They haven’t asked me again! But then the business just grew organically anyway – but it’s important to be aware that the growth of a business means more of everything, including more material, more shops to fill and more orders.
”The business might be Lazybones by name, but with its dynamo creator at the head, it’s certainly not by nature.
