How She Street Funded Direct Manufacturing and Nearly Doubled Its Margin

She Street is an Australian women's fashion brand based on the Gold Coast, founded by Hayley Bowen in 2016. Built around relaxed, easy-wearing clothing with personality, the brand has spent a decade building a loyal customer base and is now approaching $4 million in annual turnover.

The challenge: Growing beyond the small runs

She Street turned 10 in 2026. For most of those years, the business grew through Instagram, a strong newsletter list, and repeat customers who trusted Hayley's eye for what worked. Meta ads came later, and the strategy there was disciplined: double down on what already had traction, rather than constantly starting from scratch.

But there's a ceiling every apparel brand hits when it tries to scale beyond buying ready-made from suppliers. Hayley hit it when she decided to go direct to manufacturing in China.

The economics of going direct are compelling. Own-label production delivers margins and control that buying from third-party suppliers never can. But it introduces a timing problem. Large deposits, often 30% of the order value, are required before production begins. Finished inventory takes weeks to arrive. And throughout that window, ads still run, other stock still moves, and the business still has to operate at full pace.

Buying small runs was manageable. Fast turnaround, contained risk. But Hayley knew it had limits.

"Once you do a big production, there might be a lag before you see the results, but the results just way surpass what you can do doing the little bits and pieces."

The only way to keep growing was to bridge the gap between placing an order and seeing returns from it.

The solution: Securing funding before placing orders

Hayley had used capital products before. Her accountant, cautious by nature and rigorous about comparing every facility, pointed her toward Wayflyer. His view: the pricing was the best he'd seen, and the repayment structure didn't compound in the way other options did.

The approach changed. Rather than placing a large order and then scrambling for funds to cover the deposit, Hayley started securing her financing first and building the order around what she had available.

"Where we've really used Wayflyer has been when we've gone direct to China to do our manufacturing. Rather than putting the order in, I've secured the funding and based the orders around the funding I have. A lot of those require 30% upfront, and that's what Wayflyer has been able to enable us to do."

Knowing where the money was coming from before committing to a production run changed how Hayley could plan.

"It takes the mental pressure off. Knowing you've got these funds here, it gives you a moment to breathe and think and plan things a bit better, rather than just running in the day to day."

The process of drawing funds was stripped of the usual friction. When She Street moves into planning mode, Hayley contacts her account manager with what the next range looks like. Options come back the same day.

"More often than not, within 24 hours, you have the money and you can just start paying your suppliers and getting everything in motion. It's amazing. It's really good."

The results: Profit nearly doubled, turnover approaching $4 million

She Street's numbers make the case.

In the first year working with Wayflyer, turnover moved from around $2 million into the high twos. The business is now tracking to come in at close to $4 million this year.

A year ago, She Street was running at around 10 to 11% profit margin. With the ability to fund direct factory orders consistently, that figure has moved to 21%.

"It's not you're doing anything different, but the results and the money you're using for the extra styles and stock, you'll get so much growth, so much quicker. It's had a massive impact."

Her accountant has run the numbers across every facility they've used. His finding: each time She Street has drawn financing from Wayflyer, the business has returned roughly three times the amount borrowed.

"Once he told me that, I'm like, okay, I'm going to do it again."

Interested in following in She Street's footsteps? Wayflyer has funded over 6,000 businesses worldwide with $6 billion worth of working capital, backed by world-leading financial institutions. Apply in minutes and access funds in hours. Start your application today.