Curl Curl couple Simon and Wendy have taken their family business, Okanui, global
Hibiscus-print board shorts are etched into Wendy Ash’s childhood memories. “I used to wear my yellow hibiscus Okanui (boardshorts) under my school uniform because our school colours were brown and yellow,” says Wendy, who went to school in Manly. “I thought because they were yellow that they should be accepted as part of the school uniform. They went perfectly with my brown school briefcase!”
As the niece of beachwear brand founder Dick Ash, Wendy grew up receiving a pair of the brightly coloured swim shorts each Christmas. On the day, everyone in the family would wear their Okanuis. “I’ve got such great memories – everyone playing in the pool and then, being cotton-drill shorts, not being able to sit on the lounge for hours because we still had wet clothes on,” she laughs, adding that fabric technology has ‘come a long way’ since then and the current boardshorts are much quicker to dry.
When Dick retired in 2011, Wendy and her husband, Simon Kasprowicz, jumped at the opportunity to take over as co-owners. Wendy was thrilled to be taking on the iconic family business, saying it was something she’d wanted to be part of for a ‘long time.’
Simon and Wendy have grown the Beaches-based business online, and now have nine flag-ship Okanui stores operating around Australia, including a shop front in Manly.
“Wendy’s uncle (Dick) started Okanui in the 1970s,” Simon, chief executive officer says. “He was inspired by the Okanui surfboards, the first surfboards that were made in Australia.” Dick saw a need for longer shorts that went down to the knees to ride the large wooden surfboards comfortably, Simon says. So he took some canvas bags from the Avalon Post Office, cut them up, and sewed a pair of longer shorts on his mother’s sewing machine.
“He was inspired by his travels through the South Pacific with the hibiscus print,” Simon says. “It was colourful and people were looking for something different.”
The boardshorts quickly grew in popularity. “Everyone who grew up in the 1970s, 80s or 90s probably had a pair, especially on the Northern Beaches,” Simon recalls.
Taking on the business was a lot of work for the couple, with Simon explaining that Wendy initially ran the small online business from the kitchen table when their three children were young. The pair had a vision to expand the range of classic shorts into something bigger.
Co-owners Simon and Wendy
Today the Okanui range has diversified into a lifestyle clothing brand – with the hibiscus print still a main feature. “The brand is kind of nostalgic,” Simon says. “It’s iconic and it makes people feel good – it brings back nice memories from the past.”
The couple themselves are proud to have kept Okanui in the family, and local to the Beaches, with their head office in Brookvale. Simon and Wendy’s children grew up with the business, and now help out where they can.
The couple still get a thrill when they see people wearing the Okanui range, especially when they are on the beach or out having fun.
“I just feel so proud that we’re part of something that makes people feel so good,” Wendy says. “Family memories, personal memories, holiday memories – it’s something that makes me feel special to be a part of. It’s an honour.”