Zane and Omar Sabré’s transition into luxury retail was never part of their grand plan – and why would it be? One was a full-time dentist and the other was studying to be the same. But faced with their father’s leukaemia diagnosis and mounting debt, the pair decided to pivot.
Living on the Gold Coast, Zane’s annual $50,000 university tuition quickly became untenable when the family’s finances were stretched thin by medical bills. The choice was stark: drop out and forfeit everything he’d worked for, or find another way to fund his education.
The New Zealand-born brothers chose the latter.
The pair began brainstorming sessions searching for a project or side hustle that could generate some extra income. In the end, they settled on just a single product – a monogrammed leather phone case – and with that, Maison de Sabré was born. The brothers bootstrapped the company with $40,000 of their savings, which quickly went into building a website and creating initial product samples.
But as Zane soon found out, the process was anything but glamorous. With no real marketing experience, the brothers turned to Instagram, firing off endless direct messages to influencers in a bid to generate buzz in exchange for free products.
“The early days were incredibly demanding. I was a full-time dental student, often up at 4 am dispatching orders before heading to lectures, all while managing the day-to-day operations,” Zane tells Forbes Australia.
“It was an intensely stressful period.”
Zane Sabré
Meanwhile, Omar, who was still working full-time as a dentist in New Zealand, was flying back and forth to Australia three times a month to help keep the business on track.
By 2018, dentistry was put on hold, and it was time to see if their side hustle had any real legs. With the help of some targeted influencer marketing, Omar knew they had found their gap in the market – but not without some trial and error.
“When we first entered the US market, our product mix wasn’t quite right, so we had to rethink and diversify our offerings until we found the perfect balance,” Omar said. “Elevating and personalising everyday essentials like iPhones, AirPods, and wallets was largely unexplored at the time.”
Their efforts soon bore fruit. The first two years of revenue saw the brothers hit $10 million, and by 2020, Omar and Zane had been recognised in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Asia Pacific in the retail and e-commerce category. Within five years of launching, they’d sold over a million units globally, with Japan emerging as their biggest market, followed by the United States and Australia.
From that point, things began to move quickly. Phone cases turned into duffle bags, handbags, laptop cases and most recently a collection of premium travel attire, designed by Omar and manufactured in Vietnam using sustainably produced leather from The Netherlands.
Annual revenue is now at $50 million —a 200% growth over the last two years.
The brothers also managed to forge collaborations with global brands like Disney, Barneys New York, which led to significant wholesale opportunities, particularly in Japan.
“Our strategic partnerships with industry leaders such as Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Bloomingdale’s have significantly amplified our global footprint and solidified our standing in the luxury market,” Zane said.
“We’ve been fortunate from day one that our timeless designs have really resonated with a global audience.”
Today, international sales account for roughly 80% of their revenue – and the brothers say a return to dentistry seems highly unlikely.
