‘Made mistakes’: Perth activewear brand SUAVE embroiled in controversy over gym video announces closure
The brand owner also revealed he has been fired from his FIFO job and received multiple death threats from people online since the incident.
An online Perth activewear brand has announced it is closing after finding itself at the centre of backlash over a video appearing to mock a stranger’s rowing technique at the gym.
SUAVE was started by former FIFO worker Connor Wright and his wife Chloe to “bring luxury with affordability, quality, honesty and confidence back to activewear.”
But earlier this year, the couple and their brand were subjected to worldwide scrutiny after Mrs Wright uploaded a Tik Tok on her personal page seemingly mocking a man at the gym on a rowing machine.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.In a post uploaded to the company’s Instagram page on Wednesday evening, Mr Wright announced the closure of the business, less than three months after the controversy first started.
“Thank you to everyone who has supported SUAVE, whether you’ve been here from the beginning or found us somewhere along the way,” the post began.
“After a lot of thought, I’ve decided I’ll be closing SUAVE from later this year.
In a video uploaded to the brand’s Tik Tok page, Mr Wright went on to explain what had been happening behind closed doors since the global fallout from the video.
“Chloe filmed someone in the gym and posted it and stepping back and standing with you guys and seeing the outrage we truly understand and we apologise,” he began.
“I handled that situation f****** terribly I reacted really, really poorly and I definitely agree that I could have done that better.
“I do believe at some point a line was crossed. We had death threats and people threatening to petrol bomb our home.
“We had thousands of people falsely reviewing our website and also contacting my place of employment to the point where they ultimately decided to let me go and fire me.”
The former tradie explained that it’s had a huge impact on the couple’s health, stating: ‘It’s massively affected our sleep, the way we’ve lived and created a bad relationship with the brand.
“People have every right to be upset but going to the limits of threatening people’s livelihood and their safety is just not normal.”
Mr Wright explains that the video is not the only reason behind the decision, with the brand having struggled long before the social media storm hit.
“I want to make it super clear that this controversy isn’t the sole reason why we’re deciding to close down — SUAVE was struggling long before that.
“I ended up putting way too many eggs into one basket, I’ve only focused on marketing suave on TikTok and it wasn’t reaching enough people.
“I’ve made a lot of business mistakes and I’ve made a lot of personal mistakes in the last six months.”
Mr Wright revealed they would be selling all remaining stock at cost to recoup some of the money they had put into the business and alleviate the debt they’d accumulated.
“Financially I’ve now lost my job and we’re simply just trying to escape the debt that we’re in.”
The video has already garnered over 200,000 views, with people commenting their reactions over the brand’s closure.
“Hey champ, don’t get too bummed out about all this, after all it’s only your first time living,” one person wrote with another adding: “You look so exhausted and stressed. I’m sorry how awful and mean people can be.”
Others have been shown less sympathy to the couple, commenting: “This is why we don’t record strangers and post them on the internet making fun of them,” and “Amazing how a 20-30 second story on social media can change your life…”
Originally published on PerthNow
