Kate Nobelius says few things are better than finding a dress you've had your eye on, in your size, at the right price. Which is why she founded her international sample sale, she tells Róisín Ingle. (Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill)
Remember at school there was always one girl who was so well groomed that just sitting beside her made you acutely aware of your every flaw? That girl in grown-up form is Kate Nobelius, the Australian-born founder of Billion Dollar Babes. She is tall, blond, skinny and a bit of a ringer for her compatriot Elle Macpherson. You'd hate her guts if she weren't also so warm, friendly and annoyingly nice.
You've cycled to meet her in the lashing rain. When you sit down in the lobby of a Dublin hotel your soaking dress, which you now notice seems to be missing a couple of buttons, sticks to the chair. She smiles compassionately, revealing teeth that are small, even and an unnatural shade of blinding white. She orders a skinny cappuccino. Of course she does.
If you've never heard of Billion Dollar Babes, just imagine a huge travelling boutique that features heavily discounted clothes and accessories from big-name designers where the champagne flows and the music is loud. It's a brand Nobelius and her business partner, Shelli-Anne Couch, have built up over the past six years, starting with a sell-out sale in Los Angeles and now hosting events in New York, Dallas, Chicago, San Francisco, London and Dublin.
Next month the fifth Dublin event will take place a stone's throw from Kilmainham Gaol, which is appropriate given that there could be murder over who gets their hands on that cut-price Ben de Lisi maxi skirt or Dolce & Gabbana little black dress.
"I had a very fashionable start in life," the 32-year-old says when you ask how a girl from Melbourne ended up at the helm of a global fashion phenomenon. "Every Friday night my mother used to drag me to exclusive designer pre-sales where she'd drink champagne with her friends, so I was accustomed to that privileged way of shopping from an early age."
Her mother was also mad about horse racing, organising race days for the company she worked for, and Nobelius would "borrow" her suits, the hems tacked up to a more daring length, and hit the racecourse with friends. It was at the races that she met the head of Crown, a €2.5 billion casino complex in Melbourne, and at 19 she began working as a publicist for the company. Nobelius's CV is littered with chance meetings like this that lead to incredible career opportunities. "My business partner says I am the jammiest person she knows," she says, laughing. When Kylie Minogue, Elton John and Billy Joel played at Crown's opening concert, Nobelius decided that international publicity, entertainment and music was the career for her.
It seems almost inevitable, with her looks and ambition, that she ended up in Hollywood, using her Australian contacts to try for a job in one of the big LA talent agencies. "I only knew two people there, but one of those lived in a beautiful mansion that was Greta Garbo's first house in the Hollywood Hills, and they let me rent the tiny servant's quarters downstairs. I didn't have a college degree, so I didn't qualify for a visa and I needed a company to sponsor me, which took some time," she says.
In the meantime she landed a job as personal assistant for the mother of Keanu Reeves. She made the crucial contact while being treated for a back complaint after a skiing accident - her chiropractor happened to be the chiropractor of Patric Reeves, too. Jammy isn't the word. After five months Nobelius was employed at one of the top agencies, and for three years she lived the dream, promoting rock concerts, attending movie premieres and partying deep in the Hollywood Hills. Looking for a change of direction, she hooked up with Couch, an acquaintance at the time, to form Couch Nobelius PR, and the idea for Billion Dollar Babes was born.
"While working in LA, earning peanuts, I was always looking for these mythical sample sales, so that I could wear the kind of clothes I wanted to but on a budget. But when I researched I was really disappointed. Shelli and I knew that designers always had stock left over each season, so we persuaded some of our favourite designers to set up shop in the heart of Hollywood," she says. The friends used the combined power of their Rolodexes to create the first Billion Dollar Babes event, which was attended by 150 guests, including Naomi Watts, Jenna Elfman and Portia de Rossi.
When the New York Times began raving about the events, they realised their business model had huge potential. Their first gig in New York took place just after 9/11, at a time when the mood in Manhattan was such that New Yorkers could not justify spending thousands of dollars in Fifth Avenue boutiques. The sale, where customers could shop for wholesale prices with a clear conscience, was mobbed.
Since then the sales have become less exclusive and open to the public, attracting thousands of what Nobelius calls "taste-makers". "We have built up this community of around 200,000 women. It's about the sport of shopping. There is no greater thrill if you are a woman than finding a dress you've had your eye on, that you couldn't afford, in your size on a rail for the right price. Everybody wins: the designers get rid of leftover stock, and the shopper leaves with the best bargains." She adds that the sale does not only stock sample sizes. "My business partner is a size 16, and she shops just as much as I do at our events."
Nobelius says the company plans to expand into other countries and is considering options such as an online shop and co-branded credit cards.
Nobelius currently lives in New York's TriBeCa district with her boyfriend - the complex where they've just bought an apartment has a pine "forest", several gyms and a spa. She makes it her business to keep up with health and fitness developments - "I've just had a wonderful juice cleanse," she says - and is a Pilates fanatic. She also, fashionably, mixes designer labels (discounted, obviously) with high-street finds. "My jacket is Roberto Cavalli, but the shirt is Zara."
Last year Billion Dollar Babes turned over about €4 million. "I just believe if you put your ideas out there and are open to everything and you keep focused on your goals, then it will happen," she says. "It also takes a lot of incredibly hard work." And it doesn't hurt if you are jammy.
Billion Dollar Babes is at Royal Hospital Kilmainham, D8, next Friday and Saturday. You must register to attend. See www.billiondollarbabes.ie
