She left out the part where I’d end up sleeping on the floor of the airport.
Unprompted she asked “What’s the event in Brisbane, and why haven’t you bought your ticket yet? You need to go.”
I thought she meant Sxhibition. I told her I didn’t know if I wanted to go - there was the flight, the cost, finding a place to stay. She reinforced, “No, you must go.”
It was a turbulent trip (literally)… boarding the last plane out of Sydney, we spent 3 hours circling the skies of Brisbane riding the bumps and jumps of a major storm, finally diverted to the Sunshine Coast which was closed upon our arrival at 1am. I ‘slept’ on the floor of the airport until I made friends with some strangers at 5am and we all split an Uber to Brisbane. I thought, what the fuck am I doing here.
Some context…
At this point in planning the event, it wasn’t called The Baths. It was just an idea: I want to make a pleasure expo for women. So I went to Sxhibition curious about what a co-ed sex expo looks like. It was fun, but I left no closer to understanding why the psychic was adamant I must go to Brisbane.
That weekend was also the Moi Launch Party. Moi was going analog for the first time, and as a fan girl of the first two editions I thought… I’ll drive down to Byron for the night, stay with a girlfriend, meet Lila (the editor-in-chief, and fellow SexTech School grad) IRL, and maybe rub shoulders with some other pleasurable peeps.
Before we partied, my friend and I bathed in Tallow Creek on the lands of the Arakwal people of the Bundjalung nation. This is ultimately where inspiration struck for the name, The Baths. More on that later.
That evening, we donned our best vintage garb and made our way to the Moi Launch Party. I knew the second I walked in before I had even met her, Lila had to do the branding for my event. The care, the attention to detail, the playfulness, the actual cool that oozed out of that room. I wanted a piece.
I met Lila IRL a while into the party - we said hello, shared a big hug, decided we MUST catch up again about my event idea - all in the name of pleasure!
On that Zoom call a few weeks later, I told her I had a name, I had a few ideas, and I sheepishly said it out loud - “it’s going to be called The Baths.” Instantly, she got it. She came up with “Meet me at” - “it’s like a beautiful invitation!” Partnership confirmed.
I sent her a brief and 6 Pinterest boards (casual): Traditional Bathhouses, “retro”, Textures of a Bath, Magenta / Fuchsia, Illustrative and, crucially, Light Pink Tiles.
there was lots of discussion about pink.
And answered her design questionnaire giving personality to this idea in my head…
If The Baths was a film - what film would it be and why?
“Frances Ha - female friendship as the love story. It’s a bit scrappy but also confident. It’s not fully figured out, but it’s working through it. Maybe a little chaotic, but also intentional. Watching the movie you feel like you’re already a part of the friendship. You’re not a voyeur from outside, you’re in it.”
If your business was a song, what would it be any why?
“I don’t know how to distill it into one song - so here’s a playlist for The Baths - It’s confident femininity that isn't trying to be sexy for anyone else. It’s social & celebratory. We know what we are, we don’t need to over explain, and we can trust women will get it.”
Before we designed anything, she sent me 9 pages of ideas to go sift through. A collection she had curated based on my notes. I was in love. It was cheeky, confident and celebratory. Hotel matchbooks, ’70s ads and holiday tee shirts.
Since then, we (read: Lila, I was there to provide a lot of feedback) have spent months perfecting the design, creating this website you’re perusing, and bringing this beautiful brand to life.
Throughout the process, I always looked forward to our Zoom calls. They were playful, fun… dare I say it, pleasurable.
Turns out the psychic was right, I did need to go to that event… she was just wrong about which B. 😉
