Hook mum Louise Bowie's success with sling bag brand

Louise Bowie is being inundated with orders for her sling bags collection through her brand Florrie & Bird, which she setup as a side hustle during the pandemic and has now decided to run full-time due to words of encouragement from her supportive customers and selling out via Instagram.

Having worked in marketing jobs for over 20 years, Louise officially started Florrie & Bird in May 2021, pursuing her love for fashion.

Her bags were selling steadily at the time but after the pandemic, juggling employment and family life meant Louise had less time to focus on her side project.

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After trying to do all three for over a year, Louise realised it wasn’t sustainable and focused more on her employment. However, she started to receive messages from her customers, many of whom are also mums and the brand was building momentum, selling out of leather sling bags faster than she could keep up with.

“My lovely customers, other women, mums, were contacting me through my website asking where I’d gone and encouraging me to return,” Louise said.

“That was so empowering and gave me the confidence to throw everything into running my own business. I realised there is demand for independent boutiques run by mums who love fashion — I am someone who my customers can relate to, rather than a corporate CEO.”

Louise decided that full-time employment was taking its toll on family life and, after seeing the demand for her products, decided to work on Florrie & Bird instead.

“I thought I needed the security of employment, however, I quickly realised I needed work to fit around my family, not the other way round,” she said.

“I think employers recognised the importance of family time during the pandemic and were more flexible, but we’re subtly shifting back to pre-pandemic ways of working, which puts a lot of pressure on families, particularly mums.”

One of Florrie & Bird's sling bags. (Image: Contributed)

Louise also cites Instagram as being a key driving force with sales.

“I was surprised because people generally associate Instagram with teens but my core customer demographic is women over 45,” Louise said.

“With my experience in marketing, I knew Insta could be an effective sales tool, so I gave it a try. I just uploaded videos of me modelling my sling bags and as soon as a video goes live the orders start dropping in. The sling bags in metallic shades in particular have been really popular over the summer so far, I’ve had to create a waiting list for those colours due to such high demand.”

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Florrie & Bird’s sling bags combine the function and unobtrusiveness of a bum bag, with the sophisticated appearance of a leather handbag, resulting in a cross-body bag with multiple compartments.

Made from Italian leather and available in a range of colours from metallics and classic black to vibrant orange, Florrie & Bird’s sling bags come in two different sizes — regular and large, a welcome option for mums, those who struggle to pack lightly or perhaps need an umbrella for rainy days. 

Each bag comes with a plain, matching strap, but can be customised with Florrie & Bird’s range of patterned straps which allow the bags to be adapted for different outfits.