147. Meet the Founder Marlena Gabriel from Horizon Athletic
Building a fashion or activewear brand from scratch takes far more than a beautiful product idea.
It takes patience, persistence, problem-solving and the willingness to keep showing up long enough to understand what your customers actually want.
In this Meet the Founder episode, I’m joined by Marlena, founder of Horizon Athletic, a sustainable swimwear and activewear brand originally founded in Australia and now growing across international markets.
Marlena shares how her background in sport, business and finance led her into fashion, why sustainability and responsible production have been central to the brand from the beginning, and what it really looks like to grow a lean, international product-based business.
From Australian-made swimwear to Italian-made activewear, European marketplaces, rebrands, product refinement and even losing stock in a fire, this is such a grounded and honest conversation about the realities of building a brand for the long term.
In this episode, we cover:
- How Marlena first started Horizon Athletic while working in accounting
- The role her auntie played in helping her understand design, sampling, patterns and production
- Why Australian-made swimwear is still such an important part of the brand
- The challenges of manufacturing locally and sourcing sustainable fabrics
- How Horizon Athletic expanded into Europe through marketplaces
- Why building momentum takes time, patience and consistent refinement
- The importance of understanding your true customer, not just the customer you thought you were selling to
- How Marlena bounced back after a fire impacted her Australian stock
- Why customer feedback and seeing people genuinely love the product has been one of her biggest wins
- What’s next for Horizon Athletic, including international expansion and new product categories
This episode is a beautiful reminder that building a brand is rarely instant.
It is built through small decisions, consistent action, customer feedback, product refinement and the resilience to keep going when things do not go to plan.
Listen to the full episode now.
Links mentioned:
Horizon Athletic website
Horizon Athletic Instagram
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