Frill Clothing entered the Shark Tank in Season 6 with their sorority recruitment and bridesmaids’ apparel. The Raleigh, North Carolina-based business landed a deal with Barbara and Kevin and credit a “Shark Tank effect” as a reason sales increased by 200 percent last year.
When their Tank episode re-aired in the summer of 2015, we spoke to Sharon Bui, Co-Ceo and Director of Marketing and Sorority Relations. A sister of Chi Omega, she started the business with her childhood friend Kate Steadman in 2012 while they were still college students.
As Frill goes Beyond the Tank, we caught up with Bui again, who told us that the show will focus on where the company is headed, their new products, and the mix-and-match dress and skirt options for sororities, letter shirts and bid day bags.
As for Barbara and Kevin’s partnership, she said she is in contact with them almost every other week and is grateful for their business connections and sound advice, which, at times, has prevented the company from making poor decisions.
Barbara’s team thought they should expand to become a ‘One Stop Sorority Shop.’ The company did by adding items like jewelry, tote bags, t-shirts, block letter shirts and stationary. As for their bestseller, Bui said it is still the Carolina bow skirt from their photo that went viral three years ago. Coral remains as their most popular skirt color.
Like their sorority clients, Frill also has a charitable component. The company is committed to giving back part of their proceeds to the charity that the sorority supports. Make A Wish, Breast Cancer Education and Awareness, Autism Speaks, Painted Turtle Camp, The Alpha Gamma Delta Foundation, Girl Scouts of the USA, Prevent Child Abuse, The Alpha Omicron Pi Foundation, The Zeta Tau Alpha Foundation, The Delta Gamma Foundation and The Ronald McDonald House have all benefited from Frill’s generosity.
