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| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail,textile |
| Founded | 1984; 41 years ago (1984) |
| Founders | Dare Jennings |
| Headquarters | , Australia |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Surfwear •Streetwear |
| Parent | Caprice Australia[1] |
| Website | mambo |
Mambo Graphics (also,100% Mambo; and marketed asMambo) is an Australianclothing brand specialises inswimwear,wetsuits,casual wear apparel and surfing accessories. Mambo was launched in 1984 by Australianentrepreneur and founder ofPhantom Records, Dare Jennings along with his business partner, Andrew Rich. The headquarters are located inAlexandria,Sydney.
Mambo is available in Australia andNew Zealand. In 2011, the retail company expanded its market into theUnited States andCanada, later establishing stores across theUnited Kingdom. The first pair ofboard shorts were created by British fashion designer,Paul Smith. Peter Pilotto and other designers inspired the female wetsuits.
On 6 January 2015, Mambo was acquired by theAmerican brand management and production company,Saban Brands. Four years later, Mambo returned to Australian ownership when it was acquired by Caprice Australia in July 2019.
In the early 1970s, Dare Jennings owned a large and successful screen printing business, Phantom Textile Printers, producing t-shirt and fabric prints for a variety of commercial clients. He also owned an independent record label,Phantom Records. Mambo began life as an "after-hours" project in the Phantom art room. The graphics were initially created by in-house artists such as musicianJodi Phillis, and by freelance artist, Richard Allan whose first t-shirt graphics, 'Real Wrestlers, Real Wrestling' and 'Call Of The Wild (Farting Dog)' were the best-sellers.
'100% Mambo' clothing was often available in surf / skate shops in the mid- to late 1980s in the UK. As skateboarders wore much surfer-inspired clothing, Mambo board shorts in loud / Hawaiian patterns were worn by skaters. Other similar surf / skate brands around at the time wereStüssy, Life's A Beach andVision Street Wear. As this was long before skate culture became mainstream (e.g. skate shops often only soldVans, Vision orConverse shoes), these were usually niche products.
Allan's arrival at Mambo was followed by other Australian and overseas artists, includingReg Mombassa,Robert Williams (US) and Ben Frost.
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In 1994, the first Mambo 'Loud Shirt' was released. The design was influenced by the famous Hawaiian'Aloha' shirt. It was called 'Blue Hawaii' byMartin Plaza (a bandmate ofReg Mombassa). This shirt became one of Mambo's best-sellers and started the Mambo 'Loud Shirt' style. Mambo opened its first store in 1995. Located in theSydney suburb ofPaddington, it was called the 'Mambo Friendship Store'. Stores opened in other Australian cities and in the UK,Europe,Asia andNew Zealand. By 2001, Mambo had opened 25 independent retail stores .
In 2000 Mambo received an invitation from theAustralian Wool Board to design the athlete's uniform for theopening ceremony of the2000 Summer Olympics inSydney. After the Summer Olympic Games, Jennings was approached byGazal Corporation to buy the brand. Jennings sold the company in March of that year and took over the role of creative director.[citation needed] Jennings left the company in 2002 and later went on to create the surf and moto-inspired brandDeus Ex Machina.[2]
In 2006, Principle (an Australian research company) named Mambo "Australia's sixth-most-authentic brand" alongsideBonds,Speedo,R. M. Williams andBillabong.[3]In 2008 Mambo was sold to The Nervous Investor Group, an Australian-based consortium headed by Angus Kingsmill and based in the Sydney beachside suburb ofManly.[4]In 2015 Mambo was sold to US clothing groupSaban Brands.[5][6]In 2012, Mambo entered into partnerships with key players in the US and Brazil with plans to introduce the brand on a large scale in each country.[7]In July 2019, Mambo was acquired by 60-year-old family-run brand Caprice Australia, bringing ownership of the Mambo brand to Australia.[8]
