Rick Munitz & Ben Lipschitz from Flipsters.

Meet Rick Munitz &Ben Lipschitz, the boys behind the new innovation in footwear; Flipsters! We've all wished at the end of the night that we could swap our killer heels for a pair of thongs. Well fashionistas your wish has been answered! Introducing a pair of thongs that folds up and fits into your clutch, perfect to take outwith you at night!

Where did you start your career?

We have been mates for years and years. Both of us had just finished university and weren't quite sure what we wanted to do with ourselves. Then we had this random idea to create a foldable pair of thongs for women to take with them wherever they went. After a few prototypes and umm'ing and uhh'ing we made the leap of faith to create our own product called Flipsters, and so far all is going well. 

Whatdo you love about your job?

The best part for sure is being able to creatively express ourselves as we wish.With Rick it comes out through the design of the products themselves, and with Ben it comes out through new marketing and branding ideas. The fact that we both get to do what we love and directly see the outcome of our labour isreally satisfying.  

Tell us about your ‘average' day, what do you do?

It changes every day, which is part of the fun! For Rick a typical day will involve drawing up a new style or product, making some prototypes to test, and doing some creative artwork for any mail outs or branding we want to do. He pretty much leads anything on the design side of the business. For Ben it's alot about distribution, marketing and sales - calling retailers to purchase our new products, gaining feedback from current products, and also the odd bit of website updating and social networking. 

Is there anything you dread doing?

We still get a bit nervous every time there's a live interview for TV or radio -its pretty nerve wracking! But we're learning to enjoy the experience more with each one we do. 

Your advice to someone wanting a career in fashion?

No matter what fashion you do, get to know your customer as best as you can.You've got to know exactly who is buying your product, why, where they're from,and what they'd like to see in the future. This will show you your unique edge in the market, and that's going to drive everything you do. 

Isit what you know or who you know?

Definitely who you know! Even just chatting briefly to the right person can save you days of research and a bunch of headaches. When you find those key experts who know how to guide you, and possibly help you, it can lift the entire way in which you do things. At the same time it is a bit of what you know too, because you need to be able to take their advice and implement it. 

What inspires you?

Ben: I think Steve Jobs is a bit of a genius of well-designed, consumer-focused and beautiful products.Also Japan as a country is incredibly inspirational to me. It's like no other place on Earth! 

Rick:Many designers influence me; I come from an industrial design background so shapes influence me. To create Flipsters I looked at the Japanese art of origami to understand folding. The curvature of the straps was influenced from living in Sydney - shapes like waves, the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.