PROFILES + Billion Dollar Babes

Billion Dollar Babes

New South Wales, Australia

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Billion Dollar Babes

Michelle Cooke is the designer and business woman behind the Australian fashion label Billion Dollar Babes.

Michelle grew up in Sydney’s Northern Beaches after immigrating here from the UK at three years of age. After completing her degree in Economics she studied pattern-making before heading back to Europe.

Setting up home in London, Michelle worked as a BT Marketing Manager and promoted club and fashion events in her spare time. After 4 years living it up in London Michelle returned to Australia and established Billion Dollar Babes.

Billion Dollar Babes began as a boutique in the Strand Arcade, selling labels from London, Paris and New York and was a means to travel between her two homes, London and Sydney.

Demand for the product was so great that Michelle began to design and manufacture small ranges to keep up with the demand and as they say - a star was born!

Billion Dollar Babes incorporates Michelle’s love of fashion with her creative energy and savvy knack for realizing market viability. Consequently she produces clothes that are cool, modern and extremely wearable.

Over the years Michelle has been invited to participate in various projects in the industry including Fashion Targets Breast Cancer and her opinion is much sought after in fashion & design circles.

Products

Billion Dollar Babes, by Michelle Cooke combines effortless cool with an upbeat chic and tough attitude bordering on feminine romance.

Using a diverse range of inspiration, fabrics and textures, details are fused together to create clothes that enhance the personality and confidence of the wearer.

Season after season Billion Dollar Babes produces the ‘must have’ dress as well as sexy modern classics that transcend time to be worn again and again.

A stylists favourite ‘find’ and the fashion insider’s secret, Billion Dollar Babes appeals to women who aren’t afraid to be the center of attention whilst still accommodating women looking for modern takes on classic cuts for wardrobe staples.

Independently owned, complete control over design, close supervision of the manufacture process and full control of retail outlets ensures the brand remains true to its identity.

This independence brings creative freedom and a product that distinguishes Billion Dollar Babes from other designer brands.

Other Information

Billion Dollar Babes was opened by Michelle Cooke in October 1994 and was originally inspired by the London club of the same name.

Since then the label has gone from strength to strength and is stocked in numerous boutiques across Australia as well as in its flagship store at 30 Oxford Street, Woollahara, in Sydney’s affluent Eastern Suburbs.

In its first year Billion Dollar Babes was chosen to participate at the inaugural Mercedes Australian Fashion Week. After three years with MAFW, Michelle broke away from the pack to produce her own individual shows away from the hype and brouhaha of fashion week.

So fabulous was her first off-site show in May 2000, that upon seeing it, Joan Burstein of Browns declared Billion Dollar Babes ‘cut a great pant’.

As a result, Michelle was invited to London with her Billion Dollar Babes range and in days wrote orders with well renowned London boutiques The Dispensary, Notting Hill and The Cross, Holland Park.

Michelle also met with London fashion media including British Vogue who snapped up samples resulting in Marie Helvin wearing a Billion Dollar Babes Sari Ruffle dress in British Vogue Millenium Special Issue, shot by Nick Knight.

It was also shot by The Face and I. D. Magazine and has since been featured in Surface and appears regularly in Australian Fashion Publications, Vogue, Harpers, Marie Claire, Cleo, Cosmopolitan, Oyster, Yen and Australian Style.

Following this successful launch into the U.K. market, Michelle was invited to show Billion Dollar Babes in London at the London Designer Exhibition. Michelle declined this offer but accepted the invitation from The Metropolitan Hotel as one of ten designers selected to show their ranges to International Press and Buyers from one of the Hotel’s luxury suites.

The Metropolitan is affiliated with the British Fashion Council and included on the London Fashion Week official schedule. This trip added Manhattan’s premier NoLita boutique Language, London department store Selfridges, and Aura Boutique, Dublin to the list of International stockists.

Regular editorial in various overseas publications such as; U.K. Vogue, ID Magazine, Scene, Surface, Paper and Wallpaper followed.

For the next couple of years Michelle concentrated on consolidating and expanding Billion Dollar Babes’ Australian wholesale and retail business. Billion Dollar Babes did their first Australian show in two years in May 2003. Individual and off schedule, the show received rave reviews from Sydney’s fashion press.

Through great press coverage, industry recognition and a loyal following, Billion Dollar Babes has gained an enviable reputation for producing provocative, contemporary clothing and has a well-established name as a leading voice in the Australian Fashion industry.

Billion Dollar Babes has continued to grow at a steady pace and is ready to make her expanding presence known. Billion Dollar Babes is in a confident position to move into new areas of growth and expansion.

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