Australian personalised leather company Maison de Sabré has become a key global player, and is now looking to propel the business further in the Australian market. Founded by brothers Omar and Zane Sabré, the company recently collaborated with Disney, and is about to launch another collaboration with Barneys, an upscale department store in New York.The business has also released a new trademarked silicone material, Jelligrain, which is waterproof and shockproof and designed to be very similar to the texture and grain of its leather range.Omar Sabré told Inside Retail that the local market has been in flux for a number of years, as seen by the recent liquidation of competitor The Daily Edited.But, he believes there’s a strong opportunity to position Maison de Sabré’s brand and offering in Australia. “The market reports that we’ve seen are quite doom and gloom, but we’ve seen the opposite. There has been a tremendous uptake in our large leather backpacks and totes,” Sabré said.“It’s just about having the right offering and being able to nurture that, and I believe that’s something we have been able to get right in terms of the product mix that we’re focusing on in Australia.”“Welcoming people to our house”Launched in 2017, the co-founders pivoted from their career paths – where Omar was working as a dentist, and Zane was studying dentistry – following their father’s diagnosis with Leukaemia.The family is originally from New Zealand, and they started the business to pay for Zane’s international student fees. Sabré said they were inspired by brands like Bulgari, which pays attention to detail in leather goods at the nanoscale.“Our training allows us to be maniacal about the small details, and really bring something to market that’s completely different to what was being done,” he saidThey launched a single product – their signature phone case – identifying a niche in the market for small, leather designs. “We went into this with expectations that we would do this for a short period of time to help us financially, but the business grew exponentially,” Sabré said.“Within our first year, we were shipping to 80 countries.”Five years later, Maison de Sabré is shipping to 130 countries, with key external markets being Japan and the US. The business was positioned as a global brand from day one, starting with the company name.“Our last name is Sabré, so [it’s like] welcoming people into our house, but the name also provides an international flair,” he said.“From day one, we started gaining traction within the US. We have a really healthy market that we’ve been able to grow.”Following a trip to Japan in 2018, Sabré observed the popularity of leather goods, and its prevalence in men’s and women’s department stores.According to the brand’s customer data, Japan was their second or third fastest growing market, with 50-60 resellers buying their products in Australia, and selling in Japan.“We’ve really been nurturing that over the last few years [and we’re now] a brand that’s relatively synonymous in the Japanese market,” Sabré said.On the groundMaison de Sabré grew substantially in the first two years to 2020, with Smart Company reporting revenue of $10 million, and year on year growth of 500 per cent.In 2021, the business pivoted to an omnichannel approach, and has since launched pop-up shops in Sydney, Los Angeles and Tokyo.Sabré says the retail stores are a supplementary activity that enables them to build on their brand equity, improve their digital experience and produce the right type of products for their customers.“The [pop-ups] had been fruitful for us going into 2022. We’ve taken the insights we’ve learned from both physical and online retail, and have created a very strategic product roadmap strategy since the start of the year,” he said.“What we’re seeing is there’s a huge appetite – both domestically and abroad – for our larger leather and higher priced items.”Maison de Sabré has finished its pop-up shops for the year, but has global activations planned for next year.“We might be close to getting one in New York in December, but that’s a work in progress.”Game changing designSabré said that the business has also focused on the innovation and design of its leather and non-leather products and materials.The business has partnered with DriTan, a Netherland’s based, gold-rated tannery which, he said, produces one of the world’s most sustainable leathers.“All the material by-products get reused for things like biogas and heating, all power comes from solar and any [other] by-products are sold off to a third party,” he said. The co-founders have been working on the new Jelligrain material for about 12 months.“The hand-feel and in-hand texture was a key priority when addressing alternative materials. We moved away from plant-based pleather’s because [the] resins and oil-based plastic wasn’t a step in the right direction,” he said.“That texture alone took about six months to develop. It was curated through laser and acid etching [and] if you zoom in, you will see that there’s replication of hair follicles within the materials. It’s game changing, and a world first innovation that started in Australia.” He adds that collaborations with Disney and Barneys have allowed both partners to grow their brands, with the Disney collaboration resonating with their Japanese customer base.“The Disney relationship was incredibly interesting, because they came to the party and wanted to work with us,” he said.“There’s also so much positive brand equity around Barneys, and it provides another localised offering that we can tap into.”“We measure everything to the millimetre”Part of the reason why Sabré believes the business is so obsessed with quality is because of their background in dentistry and healthcare.“I lead product design, and we measure everything down to the millimetre. I know what gauge of needle I use, as well as the compositional fabric in a stitch, because I’m obsessed with the detail,” he said.“That’s something that stems from dentistry, because in a healthcare setting you have to know your product inside out, whether it’s prescribing or using something.“The risk isn’t entirely there with consumer goods, but the more you know your material, the better you’ll perform.”He adds that the business is looking to grow, and improve the offering in the Australian market. “We’ve been able to focus on building very strong foundations, which revolve around innovation, design and sustainability,” he said.“Our vision is to continue doing what we’ve been great at, which is producing quality leather goods, but also become a disrupter in the luxury space, and reinvigorate that notion of what luxury is, and how we can re-interpret that for the everyday.”