Three years ago, Cat Bloxsom and Morgan Collins had never picked up a pair of knitting needles. But a search for a new hobby to keep them going during Melbourne’s pandemic-induced lockdowns set the two friends on a path that today sees them leading a flourishing business that has sold enough wool to wrap the Melbourne Cricket Ground six thousand times.
Bloxsom and Collins are the founders of Cardigang, a pure-play retailer that is bringing the fine arts of knitting and crocheting to a new generation, with DIY kits that contain wool, knitting or crochet needles, step-by-step instructions and access to video tutorials — everything a beginner needs to make their own cardigan, beanie, scarf or jumper.
The Cardigang designs are unashamedly cheerful; chunky knits in bold and bright hues, that invoke the fashions of the 1960s and 1970s. When Bloxsom and Collins launched the business in December 2020, there were five designs in the range; now, there are more than 50.
Differing levels of skills are catered for, and Cardigang has recently expanded into blankets, cushions and tableware too.
I recently caught up with Bloxsom and Collins to learn more about their burgeoning business, the time when they needed to ‘pray to the logistics gods’, and their advice for other entrepreneurs.
Understand the true value of your product. Hint: it’s often about how the product makes your customer feel, not the product itself;
If your business is seasonal — like selling knitted products — look to other regions to smooth out your demand cycle;
Done is better than perfect. Get a product in the market and improve with customer feedback.
As a woman in her 30s, with an appreciation of all things retro and vintage, I’m squarely in Cardigang’s core market. So I was excited to try one of the knitting kits for myself, which was gifted by Bloxsom and Collins.
I come from a family of knitters and sewers, so there was something instantly appealing about learning the skill for myself. I brought the kit out at Christmas time and made a tentative start (admittedly with some help from a family member to cast on), practising with the bright blue wool that, if I’m successful, will end up as a tank top.
Within those first few moments, I was transported back to my grandmother’s kitchen, where as a child, my grandmother tried to teach me to knit. I didn’t take to the hobby then (I dropped too many stitches) but the Cardigang kit has raised the possibility of giving it a second shot.
The author’s personal Cardigang kit. Source: Supplied
This ability of the kits to be a “tool of connection” is a key driver of the brand’s traction to date, says Bloxsom, with many customers seeing the products as a way to reconnect with grandparents or older family members and embrace learning to make their own clothes, for example.
There was a sense, too, coming out of lockdowns that people were yearning to slow down and go “back to basics”, she says. This fits with a growing trend against fast fashion and greater demand for sustainable products, with consumers becoming more appreciative of the time and effort that goes into making items like jumpers or hats.
And that’s not to mention the significant mental health benefits associated with practices like knitting and crocheting too, says the founder, which can often be underestimated.
While Bloxsom and Collins had both never knitted before they started working on the business, their motivation for learning to do so also came from a desire to connect.
Bloxsom was working as a content strategist for MYOB and Collins was working in brand and marketing for Deloitte during Melbourne’s 2020 lockdowns. While others were cultivating sourdough starters, the pair wanted to find an activity they could learn together, from their respective homes, and which wouldn’t require a lot of money to get started.
With a third friend in their new knitting club, they turned to YouTube and learned how to knit a jumper.
Source: Supplied
“We dove in headfirst … and we were like, this could actually be a lot more simple and less intimidating than it probably looks from the outside,” says Bloxsom.
The rest, as they say, is history. Family and friends began commenting on their colourful creations and organic word-of-mouth started to spread. With some early media coverage, Bloxsom and Collins soon had a humming side hustle, demand for which “rode the waves of lockdowns”, says Bloxsom.
Within six months, Cardigang’s monthly sales were in the six figures, and when COVID restrictions started to ease, the duo found the demand didn’t slow down. Their “hunch” was paying off.
“It gave us a vote of confidence that it wasn’t just a lockdown hobby and the business had legs beyond that.”
When I spoke with Bloxsom and Collins in December 2022, Cardigang was selling at least 20kg of wool a day via its kits and they described Cardigang as being a “seven-figure business”. Within 18 months of launching, their initial investment of $8,000 had turned into more than $1 million in revenue.
Or, “in wooly terms”, as they like to put it, it’s the equivalent of more than two million metres of wool.
That’s a lot of work for what is still a relatively small team; Bloxsom and Collins oversee the operations of the business, with one permanent warehouse employee, some casual staff to help pack orders, and the help of a business coach.
Cardigang ships its kits worldwide, but the founders have earmarked an expansion into North America in particular as a future source of growth, along with adding non-clothing items to their product lines too.
It’s harder to sell knitted products in the hot Australian summer, but that’s the time when potential customers in the United States and Canada are looking to rug up. And while the crochet kits have proven a hit in the warmer months, Collins says “people think about knitting more in the winter than they do in summer”.
Cardigang is already offering free shipping for US customers (and to keen knitters in New Zealand for orders over NZ$90), and the founders plan to develop their presence in the States more “purposefully”, she says.
Of course, geographical expansion means your supply chain becomes even more critical. Luckily for Bloxsom and Collins, their experience of “praying to the logistics gods” during the pandemic means they are now well-versed in this area of the business.
Source: Supplied
“We’ve had moments where we’ve had shipments push out by a month… So how do you manage that and create a relationship with your customers?” says Bloxsom.
“Neither of us has ever had a product-based business before, so it was all quite new, and launching it in the thick of COVID, all of those issues were very much resilience-building.”
Fortunately, both Bloxsom and Collins were still working full-time during Cardigang’s first 18 months. They were able to reinvest every cent they made back into the business and that has helped secure a healthy level of inventory.
But the memory is still fresh of putting down deposits for stock without necessarily having the balance in their bank account to cover the full cost, and simply “hoping we would make it”.
When asked for her advice for fellow entrepreneurs, Collins is succinct: “Done is better than perfect,” she says.
“It’s about getting things out to the market and testing them with customers,” she says.
“Everything that we’ve done has been improved with customer feedback.
There’s no “silver bullet” to building a successful brand, adds Bloxsom, but entrepreneurs must be open to trying new things “even if there’s the prospect of failing in a heap of failing”.
It can be relentless, and Bloxsom is candid about the challenges of getting knocked back — “it’s hard not to get caught up in that mentally,” she says — but creating that “forward momentum” is critical.
Roadblocks are inevitable, but “you have to keep going”, even in those moments when you really want a holiday, she says.
“You’ve constantly got to try not to get too disheartened if something doesn’t go to plan, and [think], ‘well, what can I take from that and what can I learn by going forward?’” she adds.
“If we were to do it again, I wouldn’t do it differently. I think it’s a wild ride, but it’s been pretty awesome.”
It’s advice I can apply to my own knitting journey too, which I’ll admit is still very much in its early stages. But like Bloxsom and Collins, I’m having fun trying.
News Editor
Prior to joining SmartCompany, Eloise was news editor at Books+Publishing, the trade press for the Australian book industry. Eloise has degrees in media and communications, marketing and business management, and political science. You can follow her on Twitter at @ellykeating.
