Woman who invented the Invisibobble reveals how she came up with the £16.5 million idea

Student who invented the Invisibobble reveals how she got the clever idea after using an old telephone cord to tie up her hair for a university party – and sales hit over £16.5 MILLION last year

  • Swiss-born Sophie Trelles-Tvede, 27, had the idea while studying at Warwick Uni
  • Then 18, went to party at students’ union with an ‘anything but clothes’ theme
  • Spotted old disused telephone on her wall and used spiral cord to tie up her hair
  • Woke up hungover but with no headache and hair tie didn’t pull or dent her locks
  • She and boyfriend spent Christmas break working on a spiral hair tie prototype
  • Invisibobble went international in 2013 and had turnover of £5million by 2014

The founder of the Invisibobble has revealed how she came up with the clever idea for the hair tie while hungover after a night out at university.

Swiss-born Sophie Trelles-Tvede, 27, was 18 and in her first year at the University of Warwick when she went to an ‘anything but clothes’ night held by the student union.

On her way out the door she caught sight of an old disused telephone on her wall and used its spiral cord to tie up her hair.

The following morning she woke up feeling groggy, but noticed she didn’t have a headache or a dent in her locks from the unconventional hair tie.

Swiss-born Sophie Trelles-Tvede, 27, was 18 and in her first year at the University of Warwick when she came up with the idea for Invisibobble (pictured on her wrist)

Sophie called her then-boyfriend Felix Haffa – who is now her business partner – and the pair began working on a prototype for a spiral hair bobble over the Christmas holidays, funding it themselves.

Speaking to the BBC, Sophie told how she asked a man who produced telephone cord to strip out the wire and solder it into a round shape.

Although the first box was ‘terrible’, Sophie was determined her idea had legs and sought feedback on her product, tweaking it to eventually produce the Invisibobble.

She opted for transparent packaging containing three hair ties, costing £5 for a box.  

Sophie went to a theme night while studying at the University of Warwick where you wore 'anything but clothes' - and opted to tie an old telephone cable around her hair

Sophie went to a theme night while studying at the University of Warwick where you wore ‘anything but clothes’ – and opted to tie an old telephone cable around her hair

After waking up with no headache - which she used to get from hair bobbles pulling her locks - and no undesirable dent in her mane, Sophie realised she was onto something. Pictured: Invisibobbles

After waking up with no headache – which she used to get from hair bobbles pulling her locks – and no undesirable dent in her mane, Sophie realised she was onto something. Pictured: Invisibobbles

The entrepreneurs swapped to a bigger producer in China in 2012 to produce the ties in bulk and began selling them online and to hairdressers that year.

Sales went through the roof and the Invisibobble went international, shipping to 12 countries in 2013. 

Sophie told the publication: ‘People were initially really dismissive of my product. I was laughed off because it was “just a hair accessory”.

‘My flatmates would laugh at my Instagram posts about the business, or if I was creating an invoice on one of the uni computers.’

But Sophie had the last laugh, as by the time she graduated in 2014, her company had an annual turnover of £5million. 

Although the first box was 'terrible', Sophie was determined her idea had legs and sought feedback on her product, tweaking it to eventually produce the Invisibobble

Although the first box was ‘terrible’, Sophie was determined her idea had legs and sought feedback on her product, tweaking it to eventually produce the Invisibobble

She told how she and Felix noticed a shift when they were listed on the Forbes Under 30 European entrepreneurs in retail list, as people began taking the pair more seriously.

After various companies copied the Invisibobble design, Sophie and Felix set about coming up with innovative campaigns and new designs of hair bands and clips to keep their product in vogue. 

Now based in Munich, Invisibobble recorded sales of £16.6million last year and is now sold across more than 100,000 locations

Sophie urged other young entrepreneurs with an idea to 'start now'

Sophie told how she and business partner Felix noticed a shift when they were listed on the Forbes Under 30 European entrepreneurs in retail list, as people began taking the pair more seriously. Pictured: Sophie wearing the Invisibobble

Sophie told how she and business partner Felix noticed a shift when they were listed on the Forbes Under 30 European entrepreneurs in retail list, as people began taking the pair more seriously

While its main product, the spiral hair tie, is made from plastic, it’s fully recyclable as it’s made purely from polyurethane.

Sophie urged other young entrepreneurs with an idea to ‘start now’, adding that if you have a good idea ‘somebody else will do it if you don’t’.

She told the BBC: ‘If you start a business as a student, you can take a risk because you don’t have to leave a full-time job to set up a company. The worst case is – it doesn’t work out.’  

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