otto schiffer founded sunday while still in high school, he then walked away from a melbourne university degree after a single semester to build it full-time.
almost 4 years on, that decision has paid off: otto has become one of the youngest - if not the youngest - business owners to hold a permanent lease at chadstone shopping centre, one of the country's most competitive retail environments. he's built a following of over 120,000 across his personal and business platforms, in an industry where genuine attention, community and trust is hard-won.
although, the idea for sunday didn't start as a business plan. it started with his dad's fleece quarter zip - dark grey, too much polyester, a broken zipper, permanently smelling of coffee. every sunday morning, same routine: jumper on, coffee in hand, straight to the couch for an hour of RAGE and nothing else. that hour was the one part of the week his dad wasn't switched on for someone else. otto built sunday around trying to bottle that feeling - that emotion is so innately ingrained in what we wear/
fashion is one of the most oversaturated markets to build a business in, and otto's approach to standing out was never a marketing exercise - it was obsessive product development. he personally travelled across china and vietnam to source the core fabric used in sunday's hoodies, a decision that became the main driver behind the brand's growth & dominance. rather than compete on price or trend, otto bet that differentiation is in the eye of the beholder, and there is no better way to gain mass market appeal than to make a product that is simply the best.
beyond the business, otto has taken his story into classrooms - invited to speak at scotch college and take part in their careers day, alongside speaking to hundreds of students at both loreto College and the university of melbourne about alternative paths to success.
having grown up in an environment that rewards conformity and judges anyone who steps off the traditional path, he's made a point of being the voice he wishes he'd had at 14 - sitting in a classroom, already knowing the traditional path wasn't for him. his message to students is simple: finding work you're good at and genuinely stimulated by is the real secret to winning, not the path you're told to take.
at 21, otto has built sunday from nothing but conviction, fabric sourced on the other side of the world, and a refusal to listen to anyone who told him he couldn't.
