Nigel Austin
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Melanie Austin
Nigel Austin | |
|---|---|
| Born | 24 September 1970 |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Employer | Cotton On Group |
| Spouse | Tania Austin
(m. 2008, divorced)Melanie Austin |
| Children | 6 |
Nigel Austin (born 24 September 1970) is an Australian business and horse racing entrepreneur.[1] Austin is the founder and 90% majority owner of the Cotton On Group clothing and stationery group with brands including Cotton On, Supre, Factorie and Typo.[2]
Austin grew up in Geelong, Victoria. Austin's late father, Grant Austin, ran a publicly traded clothing wholesale and import business called the Austin Group, where Austin started out learning about the fashion industry in his school holidays.[2][3] From the age of 8 he knew he wanted to work in retail and looked up to his father.[3]
In 1988, at the Beckley Markets in Geelong, Austin started selling acid-washed denim jackets from the boot of his Ford Bronco car.[2][4] In his first outing at the market he sold one jacket for $30. The following week he returned with a cheaper offer, after he negotiated with his father who was the supplier, which resulted in all 20 selling out.[4][5] Austin enrolled in university to study business but dropped out after a year to focus on his growing garment business.[3][5] He didn't tell his father that he had dropped out for an entire year and could prove his business was booming.[3]
