KEY POINTS:
It's the email that every small clothing business dreams about. One from a global name wanting to stock its clothing line in a new mega-store.
That's what happened to Aucklander Paul Mason, who owns the cycle clothing business Solo. International cycling superstar Lance Armstrong is opening a new store in Austin, Texas, in May and wants to stock Mr Mason's line of retro cycling jerseys.
Mr Mason , 44, said he was shocked to receive the email from Armstrong's camp.
"I know Lance has a big connection with Nike and has his sponsors pretty much locked in, so it surprised me they'd want Solo, which is pretty much a cult brand and a niche market."
He said it was a great opportunity that would open doors for the business, which has been going strong since 2005.
The mega-store has already placed its first order, which Mr Mason will send off next week. "They've also asked if we want to come to the opening function so myself, my wife, and father, who is a huge Lance fan, will go."
Ninety per cent of the company's New Zealand-made clothes are exported.
Mr Mason has a background in graphic design and has cycled for more than 20 years.
"I thought it was a good opportunity to combine my graphic design skills with my love of cycling and basically I wanted to make clothes that I wanted to wear. I just love those clothes from the 1950s and 1960s, where the styles were really classical and simple. Nowadays there tends to be this big splatter of sponsors' logos all over the jerseys."
Mr Mason's retro jerseys do have a sponsor's name on them, but the sponsor is a cleverly made-up name and design, invented by Mr Mason himself.
Solo, whose sales are largely website-based, has sold clothing to cyclists in 32 countries. It also sells in high-end bike shops in New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Denmark and Japan.
But Solo is not the only New Zealand cycle clothing business doing well overseas. Ground Effect, which specialises in mountain biking outfits, sells about 50 per cent of its goods overseas.
"We've been designing and making stuff for 14 years and about half of what we sell is sold offshore, mainly in Australia and the UK," said co-owner Guy Wynn-Williams.
And the website-based business is growing solidly every year.
Another clothing company called Nzo, which has been going for 10 years, has just secured the sponsorship of the Australian 24 Hour Solo Mountain Bike Championships.
"An Australian national championship with a New Zealand brand sponsoring it is quite a coup," said manager Gary Sullivan.
About half the company's business comes from overseas. "You have to have interest from overseas because mountain biking is a niche market."
