nd founder of Nuudii System, a lingerie and lifestyle brand that is all about embracing the female form, versus constricting it. After a last-minute scramble to find the appropriate undergarments for her wedding dress, Azan, a veteran in the retail industry with over 20 years of experience, specialising in fashion marketing, decided to take matters into her own hands. The brand founder set about to create products that were all about embracing the female form, versus constricting it, and ended up on a five-year journey of trial and error to develop the right ingredients to create Nuudii System’s own specialty fabric. Through angel investors and several successful crowdfunding campaigns, Azan was able to raise over $2 million before she raised about $739,000 more via Kickstarter and an additional $200,000 through Indiegogo. Within the first 30 days of business, Nuudii System sold about $750,000 worth of SKUs. Working alongside her daughters and her team, Azan plans to continue selling Nuudii System’s best-selling SKUs, like the multi-strapped Tee System bra, in addition to launching more products in the loungewear and swimwear categories. Oomee Category: Food and beverageCountry: USLaunched: 2025 Alissa Miky is quite the multi-hyphenate: TV anchor, serial brand founder and cancer survivor. That last title largely inspired her to launch her latest venture, Oomee, a functional, gut-healthy beverage powered by the restorative properties of seaweed, specifically red algae. The name is a play on the Japanese word for ocean (“Umi”) and a sense of excitement, as in “Oo, mee!”, to provide a more accessible and delicious way to access the digestive health benefits of seaweed. “I believe that food is medicine. We want to bring medicine-like benefits to the people with Oomee,” Miky told Inside Retail US. She officially launched Oomee onto the retail scene this May with several SKUs, including single cans ($3.50 each), 12-packs ($34.99) and a 30-day supply of nutritional powder ($60). In addition to the brand’s thriving DTC site, Oomee’s products are stocked in almost 1000 physical stores across the US through multiple local and national grocery chains, including Bristol Farms, Raley’s, and Sprouts Farmers Market. Without revealing exact figures, Miky disclosed that Oomee has already generated seven-figure revenue in its first year and has raised $8 million in funding to date. While those are already more-than-impressive figures for a brand in its first year of business, Miky stated that she plans to accelerate the brand’s growth over the next 4–5 years, to hit $400 million in revenue. Off Season Category: ApparelCountry: USLaunched: 2025 Until recent years, it has been difficult for women who are fashion-forward sports fans to find merchandise specifically geared to and marketed to them. Now, thanks to growing media focus on both female athletes and sports viewers, a rising number of indie and mainstream merchandising players have started making and marketing products to supply the ever-growing market for women’s sports merchandise, a market estimated to be worth $4 billion in the US in 2024 alone. One brand that has been stepping up to the plate to serve this overlooked consumer is Off Season, a label launched in January 2025 and co-founded by fashion designer/social media influencer and WAG Kristin Juszczyk and retail icon Emma Grede, the co-founder of Good American and Skims. “For so long, women’s fan gear felt like an afterthought,” Juszczyk says. “We’re changing that. Off Season is made for everyone, but it’s especially exciting to give women options that feel powerful, stylish and authentic, not like shrunken-down versions of men’s styles.” From stylishly cropped button-downs to game-day-ready corsets to sleek puffer coats sporting the team’s logo and colours, Off Season’s pieces are designed to help the wearer “move effortlessly from game day to every day”. Within just a year of launching, the brand has partnered with the NFL, NBA and WNBA to launch several stylish and well-selling collections. Seoul Tonic Category: Food and beverageCountry: AustraliaLaunched: 2022 In South Korea, it’s incredibly common to walk into a convenience store to find a plethora of hangover “cures” – tonics with beneficial ingredients to help with the pre- and post-drinking ritual. However, the same can’t be said for the Australian retail scene, which is where Sophie Hood, an ex-LVMH and Red Bull executive, stepped up to the plate and founded Seoul Tonic. During the early stages of the pandemic, when corporate culture as we knew it shut down, Hood, like many other entrepreneurs in this time period, was inspired to launch her brand after discovering a new hyperfixation, South Korean skincare. As Hood told Inside Retail Australia, “What started with importing niche skincare brands from South Korea resulted in an interest in the specific ingredients that were used in these products. “This interest in skincare ingredients quickly became a deep dive into Korean culture, discovering the giant ‘hangover relief’ and broader functional beverage category that is contributing billions a year to the local economy. “With natural, niche liver tonics marketed as ‘pre-drinking’ and ‘post-drinking’ in every 7-Eleven in Seoul, I couldn’t believe how little these ingredients were used in the market here in Australia.” Hood founded Seoul Tonic in 2021, which officially launched onto the market in 2022, in partnership with Mr.Parks, a third-generation Korean pear farmer who wanted to share his produce and formulations with the world. Today, Seoul Tonic has a thriving DTC site and a budding physical and digital commerce presence across multiple retail merchants in Australia, New Zealand and the US. Nakie Category: Outdoor gearCountry: AustraliaLaunched: 2019 When you hear the brand name “Nakie”, what type of product would first come to mind? If your answer was eco-friendly outdoor gear, like hammocks and beach towels, you would be right on the nose. Nakie was founded by the sibling duo Dean and Jaryd Leibbrandt, alongside Dean’s wife, Tegan Leibbrandt, in 2019, after the trio witnessed the devastating effects of plastic pollution during a dive trip. Deciding to turn literal garbage into gold, the co-founders went on a nine-month journey of testing and product development to create the brand’s first SKU, the world’s first 100 per cent recycled hammock, made from 37 recycled plastic bottles. The founders explained that the brand’s unique name was inspired by their collective goal to get people outdoors and stripped back to nature. “It’s not about losing your clothes, but about shedding all the stress and distractions. Just getting back to basics, enjoying the outdoors, and feeling free. That’s what the name Nakie is all about!” Today, the brand offers a wide range of practical, but playfully designed goods, ranging from hammocks to tote bags to tarps. Six years after launching into the market, Nakie has transformed 22 million plastic bottles into best-selling gear and has built a $30 million outdoor gear empire. Further reading: Further reading: How Off Season is tapping into the $4bn women’s sports merchandising market