When brothers Ed and Bill Ovenden moved into a shared house in Queensland, they quickly realized how much they hated making their beds and looked for a better solution.
But the options were limited, so they decided to reinvent traditional sheets by designing an alternative with labels on each end to easily know which corner each side belongs to.
Since launching The Lad Collective in September 2020, the business has generated over $2 million in revenue and a customer base of 12,000.
Before starting, the brothers were ‘stunned’ that no one had thought of a solution to the annoying task until now.
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Australian brothers Ed and Bill Ovenden launched The Lad Collective in September 2020 after having a “light bulb moment” to reinvent the millennial bed sheet.
The boys moved into an apartment house and hated changing sheets, so they reinvented the design by adding four labels to each end to easily determine which corner each side belongs to.
Each label is marked with the corresponding corner, such as BL for the lower left (pictured). Ed and Bill told FEMAIL that they would often never change the sheets because they hated the difficult task, but were forced to when they moved house.
Ed, 25, and Bill, 27, told FEMAIL that they would often never change the sheets at home because they hated the chore, but were forced to when they moved out.
“I looked at Bill and realized that the white sheets Mum had bought me were cream yellow because she hadn’t washed them in 12 months,” said Ed.
“We realized that if we had these problems, surely many other men would too.”
The siblings had “no idea” where to buy decent sheets and said they were too dependent on family members to do it for them.
After having the “light bulb moment” they got to work ordering samples to get the ball rolling.
“The first samples were so flimsy and terrible,” they said, but eventually they designed a product they were happy with and launched in September 2020 during Covid.
That same month, the brothers made an ambitious decision to quit their jobs in a call center and logistics industry, something they were nervous about at first.
“We had all the faith in the world and we knew how to market the product in a unique way,” Ed said.
“We’re a true-blue Aussie brand that loves to laugh and we’re not home decor experts, but we know we have a good quality product.”
The sheets are made from 60% bamboo material which is durable, anti-bacterial and ‘odor-eliminating’, along with 40% cotton to keep you cool in the summer.
The sheets are made from 60% bamboo material which is durable, anti-bacterial and ‘odor-eliminating’, along with 40% cotton to keep you cool in the summer.
In December 2021, the brand launched another creative product: a playable doona cover designed with magnets for easy changing.
In December 2021, the brothers launched another product: a play doona cover designed with magnets for easy changing.
“Like sheets, we’ve also struggled to put a duvet cover on it and we thought about how we can come up with a new solution,” said Bill.
“We went back to the whiteboard and were fascinated by magnetism, so we thought “What’s the strongest magnet we can find?” and it went to Bunnings.
“Luckily, there weren’t too many gaps to jump through and we found a good magnet and then it took us three months to develop the product.”
The “rock solid design” features four magnets in each corner that lock together and won’t budge.
And while the products were initially aimed at men, women have also praised the innovative designs
Ed said The Lad Collective had also designed a sheet set with braille and tactile letters on the labeled corner straps to make it easy for blind and visually impaired people, as well as people with physical and intellectual disabilities intellectual
“There are 575,000 Australians living with blindness or visual impairment and that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to those who face everyday challenges like making their bed,” he said.
“We’ve heard from blind Australians how they previously had to use safety pins in the corners of their sheets to help them figure out which way the sheets are going, and our braille corner straps have eliminated that inconvenience.”
And while the products were initially aimed at men, women have also praised the innovative designs.
To view the products, click here.