When Jay was growing up on the West Coast of New Zealand in pleasant New Plymouth it was fair to say there wasn't much in the way of designers wares readily available.

However later when Jay moved to Auckland he not only had access to some of his favorite NZ and International designers but also realised it was called the 'city of sales' for a reason. Auckland had great designer sales. And everyone loves a sale right?

Jay thought that the fashion forward all over should have easy access to these covetable sales and what better and more convenient way than the world wide web.

So, Jay and Cat (his beautiful side kick and wife) got to work, spending nights after their day jobs, planning, dreaming, designing, talking and eventually ONCE'IT was founded. The website was intricately mapped out with technology partner Pixel Fusion, who got to work. Then marketing began (mainly to our extended friends and friends of friends) At the time of launch we just snuck over 2000 intrigued and curious members that had signed up. Designers were contacted and at first were very reluctant to the idea (as 42 Below says – every bastard says NO!). But after many phone calls, meetings and emails we got a few brave brands on board and launched on May 17th 2010 with designer twenty-seven names. The initial photo shoot for the garments were strung together with favors from talented friends and a new partnership with an Auckland model agency (We quickly realized that shooting three to four designer ranges a week was no small feat.) Orders came in one by one to very excited glees from Jay & Cat, who promptly packed the orders with love and handed them off to our trusty and now very busy courier driver Leo.

They were certainly humbled beginnings to say the least. Now ONCE'IT has a few more extras on the dedicated team working hard to keep the designer sales coming. From web to photo shoot teams, customer service to brand sales and logistics. Roles and expansions are popping up all the time to meet the demand of the growing business.

However ONCE'IT are still a close team with the ability to move quickly and work together to make sure ONCE'IT members are constantly getting the crème de la crème of sales, service and satisfaction. And that may be what makes them different.

With a constantly growing member base, a long list of requested invites, endless amounts of talented designers and non-stop couriers dropping in and out, ONCE'IT is a special Kiwi company.

To continue to follow our story and get the heads up on featured designers you can check us out on Facebook and Twitter.