Peter Alexander

Peter Alexander

Renowned for his label of underwear and nightwear, Peter Alexander is a fashion designer from Melbourne, Australia. He went to Mount Scopus Memorial College and was recognized as one who will never succeed. Who knew that this statement for him will turn upside down and he will become famous around the world. In 1981, Alexander began the journey of his career by working in the marketing department of Sportsgirl, a chain of women-wear operated and owned by Sussan Retail Group.

His female friends often discussed the lack of comfortable and pretty looking night suits, and he understood their dismay. Alexander not only identified the problem but also solved it by bridging the gap of comfort and style in the Australian marketplace. In 1985, he left his workplace and when he was twenty-four years old, he established his own label for sleepwear under his name. For this business venture, he took support from his parents.

Initially, when he started the business, he operated it from his parent’s dining room and sold to departmental stores directly. However, in 1990 a shop cancelled its order for 2000 pajamas and due to desperation, Alexander booked a mail order advert in a magazine called Cleo. This advertisement proved to be a successful medium of promotion since after the publication, he received more than 5,900 orders. One ball made several goals for him. Following this achievement, he began exporting his apparel to the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand through mail orders. By 1999, he began selling his brand worldwide via e-commerce. A year later, Just Jeans bought his sleepwear brand and Peter Alexander became the manager. Apart from this type of clothing, in 2002 Alexander invested his talents in an array of bedding designs for Sheridan.

Moving on, in 2004 the designer opened his first exclusive store for his nightwear label in Melbourne Central Shopping Centre. Since then he expanded his business in every Australian state. In 2008, he launched his flagship shop in America in Los Angeles’s Robertson Boulevard. Unfortunately, due financial crisis, Alexander had to close his stores in the United States.

Apart from designing, Alexander strongly supports welfare of society and animal rights. He is a participant and corporate sponsor in Million Paws Walk by RSPCA. After the injury his dachshund suffered from, Alexander became more enthusiastic about the rights of animals. In 2008, Katheirne Heigl collaborated with him to design charity pajamas – with proceeds going directly to rescue groups of animals in the locality.  In 2011, he produced a calendar with photographs of models posing in Alexander’s underwear collection with rescued dogs. The money from sales went to RSPCA.

His brand has been worn by celebrities, such as Naomi Watts, Mandy Moore, Alicia Silverstone, Pink, Lady Gaga, Nicole Kidman, Toni Collette, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Rachel Griffiths, Kristin Cavallari and Katherine Heigl.

Moving on, Peter Alexander is a part-time lecturer at RMIT University, he teaches fashion designing there.

People have  referred to him as the Australian King of Pajamas for more than twenty-four years. He knows exactly what people like to wear at night in bed. Alexander built an enormous business, creating fashionable and fun daywear, underwear, nightwear and gift-wear. The designer aims to never turn into a boring entrepreneur and keeps reminding himself how his business started. His inspiration comes from travelling around the world and observing various cultures, patterns, magazines and colors.