Member Article

Brothers ride onesie craze with web business

Two brothers who invested their life savings to sell Japanese-made animal onesies are set to turnover a quarter of a million pounds this year.

London-based Eddy and David Barrett established kigs.co.uk in 2010 with £10,000 of savings and have enjoyed the onesie sensation, now manufacturing their own range.

The pair developed the idea when a friend returned from Japan with one of the outfits, and set up the site within eight months.

Co-founder Eddy Barrett said: “As soon as celebs like the stars of TOWIE and One Direction started being photographed out and about in onesies, we knew the business was about to take off.

“December 2011 was incredibly busy for us and since then the business has been growing steadily. The summer months – so festival season – are key months for us as is the run up to Christmas.

“Our core customers tend to be parents buying them for teenage children as gifts – students aged 16 upwards are a key market for us. You spot a lot of students wearing Kigs onesies at festivals. They stay warm and certainly stand out from the crowd.”

Prior to the venture, Eddy had been studying business at university, and David was working in retail.

The pair are now looking to break the market for children’s onesies, and will look to get product on the high street to complement online sales.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .