Fitness-wear has become one of the fastest growing clothing niches in the past five years.

Recognising it’s continued growth in 2016, Nathaniel Anthony and Chris Anastasi started selling and packaging clothing out of their small bedroom. Now, the duo are planning to move into a 4,000sq m warehouse before the end of the year.

Speaking to News Corp, Mr Anastasi said the pair struggled in coming up with ways to turn their small business into a large-scale money maker in the early stage of production.

“The biggest challenge was the cash flow,” he said to News Corp.

“We would sell a lot but the next order would have to be big enough to fulfil growth, so we were reinvesting money from the sales and we weren’t really able to get ahead until a few years down the track.”

Anastasi added that ‘Muscle Nation’ managed to bring the fitness community and athletes on board and promote their workouts and nutrition advice.

“Having a lot of eyes and feedback on social media we expanded really quickly into fashion and these days we have to stay on trend.”

“We worked really hard on style and bringing out new collections, designs and colours every four to six weeks and it meant we didn’t over commit to stock as we wanted to bring collections out more frequently.

“We worked out demand in the market for cuts, style, length and types of design through trial and error but this helped us pivot fast to where demand is.”

The company’s success sprouted most notably in the 2020 Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales, which saw them gain nearly $10 million across those two days. The duo said they are on track to make $50 million by the end of the financial year.

Revealing the secrets to their success, Mr Anthony said anyone can sell activewear, but it’s their customer service that sets them apart.

“We have provided an unrivalled customer experience through our website and customer service — we reply to every single person and we talk to them like they are our friends. We find by doing that we are able to create a massive community of cult like fans where they love us so much,” he said.

Grecian Purveyor and Ladi Biosas are collaborating again to commemorate and celebrate Greece’s 200 years of Independence with a Limited Edition Design of Kalamata extra virgin olive oil.

The oil is sold in a Ceramic Blue, the traditional colours of the Greek Greece’s sky and sea, clouds and waves.

“Our new Limited Edition ‘200 Years’ Blue Ceramic bottle depicts the flame of democracy by using on its printing design iconic symbols that symbolise how all our heroes, heroines and Philhellenes of that time were deeply ingrained with belief in human liberty, a belief that has sparked history many challenges,” William Dachris, Founder of Grecian Purveyor, said to The Greek Herald.

“The Ceramic bottle is entirely made by hand one by one and has to be cooked in special industrial kilns 3 times with a total amount of more than 72 hours.

“Each bottle is coloured manually and then the special designs are applied carefully.”

The nine stripes of the flag symbolise the nine syllables of the phrase “Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος – Freedom or Death” (E-le-fthe-ri-a i Tha-na-tos in Greek), the motto of the Hellenic Revolution.

The commendable phrase of the Hellenic Revolution “Freedom or Death”, is imprinted on the side of each bottle. Additionally, on the front side of the bottle 3 symbols stands out as an iconic reference for Greece’s 200th Independence Day:

• An Olive Wreath that commemorates Nike the goddess of victory as she crowns with Olive wreaths all the heroes of 1821.
• The iconic helmet of Theodoros Kolokotronis, the Greek General also known as “Geros tou Moria”.
• The church of Agioi Apostoloi in Kalamata city with a historical significance as it is here on 23rd of March 1821 that the revolution of the Greek independence begun.

“It was the least that we could do in order to commemorate our family members and ancestors’ strong will for freedom,” Dachris added.

“It is an ode to all our heroes and heroines from Greece and around the world, to all the Philhellenes, that fought with an extraordinary force of hope for independence, principles of liberty, freedom and democracy.

“It was an honour to create the 1821 Edition and to be a part of the 200 years celebrations of the Greek independence globally, as both Ladi Biosas and Grecian Purveyor are community based with very strong Hellenic values.”

Dachris describes the reaction to the bottle as being, “beyond anything we could have ever imagined”.

“We can’t thank enough the team at George Vavatsis’ studio in Greece that is working around the clock to meet such high demand!”

To find out more and purchase your own collectible 1821 Ladi Biosas olive oil visit: www.grecianpurveyor.com/products/1821-edition-organic-ultra-premium-first-harvest-extra-virgin-olive-oil-ladi-biosas

Following his successful national launch in Canberra last month, Nick Bourdaniotis will be launching ‘The Evzones Collection’ in Melbourne today, Friday March 26.

The event is part of the many international cultural initiatives celebrating Greece’s 200th bicentennial anniversary since its 1821 War of Independence.

The exhibition gets it’s name after the historical elite light infantry and mountain units of the Greek Army which today serve as members of the country’s Greek Presidential Guard.

The exhibition is hosted and organised in conjunction with the 2021 Victorian Bicentenary Committee and the Organisational Council for Greek National Day at Oakleigh Grammar Convention Centre. The exhibition will be attended by political and community dignitaries including the Consul General of Greece in Melboune Emmanuel Kakavelakis, Bishop Ezekiel, Chairman of 2021 Victorian Committee Tony Tsourdalakis among others.

“I am fortunate to be able to share my work on Greece’s Presidential Guard especially now with the 200 years anniversary since our Independence” said Bourdaniotis.

The collection was largely inspired from Bournaniotis’ first contact with members of the Greek Presidential Guard when he was appointed official photographer of the Evzones tour of Australia in 2016, at the invitation of the Hellenic Club of Sydney.

Since then, his work impressed both the public and officials, leading to the photographer continuing his work with unprecedented access to all aspects of the Greek Presidential Guard.

Event Details:
Melbourne: Saturday March 27 – Sunday April 04 at Oakleigh Grammar Conference Center. Address: 77/81 Willesden Rd, Oakleigh, Victoria, 3166.

Saturday 27 March, Sunday 28 March: 2:00pm – 6:30pm, Monday 29 March to Thursday 01 April: 3:00pm – 7:30pm, Friday 02 April to Sunday 04 April: 2:00pm – 6:30pm