Jennifer Cossins – Red Parka
Life InStyle sat down with Jennifer Cossins, owner of Red Parka to discuss the brand, how the idea first came about and her brands plan for the future.
Can you give us an insight into your retail brand's history and the journey that led to its creation?
I started Red Parka about 15 years ago by accident! I was unhappy in my job and turned to creating art as an outlet and one day decided to go to a market and see if anyone would like my work. And they did! Thus inspired, I got super busy drawing and creating more products! After a few years, I decided to have a crack at turning this side hustle into a full time business, so quit my job and dived headlong into making Red Parka a viable business. It took many years and much trial and error, but we got there! Nine years ago we opened our shopfront in Hobart, and five years ago my wife Tracy also joined Red Parka full time - we are both artists and love our life working and creating together everyday!
What motivated your participation in Life Instyle, and what aspects of the show align well with your brand?
We joined Life Instyle because we wanted our brand to reach a wider audience. In Tasmania, we are quite well known and our work features in many shops, but on the mainland we are still very new to this world! Life Instyle appealed to us because it’s a boutique show that has really good quality, artisan stalls, with original work. We feel we fit in here!
What inspired the idea to start your retail brand, and how does it resonate with your brand's overarching mission?
To be completely honest, my initial inspiration was to find a job for myself I didn’t hate! But after that happened, I began to think bigger and really wanted to build a brand that made the world a better place. Our products themselves celebrate the natural world, diversity and kindness, and a few years ago we changed our business model to be an altruistic business that donates 50% of our profits to good causes. I always wanted to do more good as I could afford to, and making this commitment has been a game changer! We are inspired and motivated everyday to create products that make people happy and help us raise money to donate to good causes! It’s been exciting to see this evolve!
In a competitive retail landscape, what distinctive qualities or values do you believe differentiate your brand from others?
The fact that 50% profits are donated is a big factor - to date we have donated over $150,000 to environmental, animal and humanitarian causes! We are a 100% women-owned, queer-owned and Tasmanian-owned business, which is pretty unique! Add to this our commitment to sustainability, ethical manufacturing, diversity and community, we believe we are really making a difference in our world and hope our retail partners can join us with this.
Could you share your personal favourite product from your brand's collection and tell us why it holds a special significance for you?
This is tricky, but probably would be the 101 Animals Melanie plate - this was designed to match my first book, which was really the catalyst for Red Parka becoming a viable business. It took forever to get the animals to fit perfectly and I love how bright, colourful and complex it is! It was also the first product I mass produced off shore so it was a huge learning curve and the biggest financial risk I’d ever taken. It became my best selling product very quickly, and after supply issues during covid, we are super excited to be bringing this plate back at Life Instyle this early!
What feedback or comments do your customers frequently give about your products and brand, and what aspects do they appreciate the most?
People love that shopping our products makes them feel good as they are contributing to something bigger than themselves. We also get a lot of feedback about the inclusivity of our products.
Can you highlight some of the proudest achievements or milestones your brand has achieved since its inception?
Red Parka has been built around my children’s books, so among my proudest achievements have been my 3 shortlistings for the Australian Children’s Book Council Book of the Year awards in 2017, 2022 and 2023. Also, I’ll never forget the time Anne Hathaway talked about my Collective Nouns book on the Ellen Show! That day was easily the single biggest day of sales I’ve ever had!
But more than either of these things, I would have to say I’m most proud of the fact my little business, started on a whim with funny little animal drawings on greeting cards, has grown to be where it is today. I have a small team of fabulous employees, a thriving store in Hobart’s CBD, and, with my talented wife by my side, we’ve built a business that cares, that gives back and that makes us happy everyday.
Could you outline the core values that steer your brand's decision-making processes and relationships with customers?
Our core value is kindness. We aim to be kind to the earth, kind to our suppliers, our makers, our customers, or stockists, our community, our world. It’s our goal to make everyone we encounter in our business feel good!
How do you envision the future trajectory of your brand, and what are your long-term aspirations and goals for its growth and evolution?
We hope to meet more retail partners at Life Instyle as I believe we have more room to grow and in turn do more good in the world! We don’t have goals to conquer the world, we just want to keep creating, keep making products that people enjoy, and keep raising money for good causes. We’d love to reach the milestone of donating $1 million to charity in the future - that would be an amazing feeling!
Rapid Fire Questions
What is the most interesting place you've travelled to recently?
We’ve just returned from an amazing trip to Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan - incredible mountains, amazing art and the friendliest people! My new favourite part of the world!
If you could have dinner with anybody, who would it be and why?
Peter Singer, because his writings on effective altruism and animals rights have been a huge influence on us and inspired us to do more good!
What is your favourite book, and how has it influenced your perspective on business and life?
The Loafer’s Manifesto - I can be a workaholic at times and get caught up in business success, but this book reminds me to slow down, appreciate the small things, focus on community and avoid depressing things like big supermarkets! I re-read it every couple of years!
What's a hobby or interest of yours that people might be surprised to learn about?
I am slightly obsessed with YA paranormal novels - vampires and werewolves - and read them every night before I sleep. For some strange reason it’s relaxing and helps turn my overactive brain off so I can sleep!
