Design

 

‘Creativity is a curse you are born with‘ was a belief ever since Nicole was a child.  She saw her mother’s creativity and other artists, and never thought she would make any money doing what she loved…like a person with a ‘profession’ would.  Still, she never though she would ever do anything that was not in a creative field, and mostly she hasn’t.

 

Moving on from her photographic career in her early 20’s, Nicole followed her love of fabric and clothing design…her mother had always sewn and Nicole was itching to make something on her mother’s sewing machine since she was  a young child.

 

Her first project was a disaster but she was not fazed as she now had access to the machine and learning from her experience ( in this case it was ‘make a pattern first’) she moved on to the next. Before long and still a young teen, she was making wedding dresses for family members. Tailored suits were her next goal, and making her own patterns. As all young girls do, Nicole loved fashion and filled her wardrobe with her own designs, occasionally having time to make something special for someone else.

 

Without college training in design, Nicole found it difficult to secure a job to give her more experience in the rag trade.  She continued to work on her own but found that with no industry experience she had no idea how to build a clothing design business.  She eventually contracted to a number of corporate and promotion clothing companies and she learnt about the processes of manufacture and sales in the industry.

 

In 1994  the age of 28 Nicole started her own company – Active Apparel Pty Ltd.  With good connections she gained good contracts and volumes, supplying to resorts, restaurants for custom designed uniforms, and large companies for promotional clothing and items.  Many of her clients were in need of design advice in regard to logos for their garments…and so she added those products to her services, learning new skills with computer graphic design software. Designing and manufacturing high volumes of Tshirts and polo shirts in China through an agent in Hong Kong was the next stage and a new skill set again.

 

A  marine industry client led her to her next big project. In 1997 Riviera Marine, Australia’s largest boat builder was let down by a supplier of sideline services and Nicole was offered the opportunity to fill the gap.  Starting with her younger sister as part of the team, Nicole set up a product and service business to new boat buyers, providing everything else that the factory did not. Starting out as V2 Design (the two Vlug sisters) and 18 months later NV Design when she bought her sister out, the company became Australia’s largest and only exclusively marine interior design company.

 

To this day a ‘NV Design Package’ is considered a valuable bonus if it is part of the inclusions of a second hand boat for sale. Products included supplying the Riviera factory with designs and packages for carpets, upholstery, window furnishings, bedspreads and scatter cushions, monogrammed linen, towels and galley ware.

 

Staff training was a constant part of of the day to day activities as Nicole passed on her knowledge and experience – ‘Experienced Marine Interior Designer’ is not something that can be advertised for.

High quality leather bound sample books were produced for all dealers to order from, as well as catalogues of all other products available including a large range of lifestyle clothing and monogrammed accessories. Many customers chose not to purchase the standard factory supplied interior options and come directly to NV Design for a full custom fitout.

 

In her busiest year she had 5 full time staff, and numerous outsourced suppliers and tradespeople, fitting out over 300 new boats ranging from 30ft to 65ft sports boats and cruisers – all valued between $300 000 and $2 000 000.  Renovating older boats was another successful division of the company.  NV Design was located within the Riviera Marine factory grounds and included a well stocked clothing and merchandise boutique – everything from monogrammed caps to gold watches.

 

NV Design’s famous clients included the owner of Clarins Cosmetics in France, Gold Coast Magnate Keith Williams, Stefan, and Tom Cruise & Nicole Kidman.

 

With the sale of Riviera Marine in 2002 and a change of leadership and structure, all contractors were phased out, putting NV Design in a precarious position.  Fortunately the majority of the business was with boat buyers through the dealers and not with the factory and Nicole believed the business was safe as the need for her services would always be there.

 

Assuming a takeover was imminent Nicole negotiated with the company albeit unsuccessfully.  Riviera created their own Design Department at a cost of over 1 Million dollars and employing twice the staff that NV Design required to do the same job.  Moving the business out of the Riviera factory precinct and across the road while maintaining contact with dealers and  customers, and developing new clients including Maritimo was the new strategy for NV Design.

 

The new premises, while expensive, was a magnificent work space with professional street front appeal. ‘The Galley Cafe’ was an adventurous addition to add alongside the design rooms, but added another valuable service the the Coomera Marine Precinct.  In 2006 Nicole sold the design business  and cafe to her staff with the plan to have a year off.

 

During the ‘mini retirement’ years Nicole could not help but still be creatively active, directing her ‘creative curse’ to online marketing, website design and digital photography.

 

Read an industry article on NV Design HERE