After spending 18 weeks on crutches, Murphy launched Saltè Swimwear to create active swimwear designed for surfing, swimming and sport.
As a teenager who loves spending time at the beach and enjoying her own active lifestyle, Ellie Murphy found herself wanting swimwear that could both keep up with her and look fashionable.
Frustrated by the lack of options for teenage girls that combined functionality, confidence and style at the same time, Murphy set out to create her own solution and launched Saltè Swimwear in February 2026.
The brand offers reversible active swimwear designed to transition seamlessly from the beach to sport, as well as look and feel flattering.
The label is already making waves in the Australian fashion industry, with Murphy confirming she has already sold 65% of her first collection since launching.
The teenage founder started the brand when she was on crutches for 18 weeks due to a serious leg injury. During her recovery period she still wanted to stay connected to her sports.
“I felt really disconnected to the sports I do, which is gymnastics and surf life saving, and because of this I wanted to stay in touch with those two sports,” she says.
“I couldn’t find anything hat would work for being in the gym and being in the water, so I decided to create [Saltè Swimwear].”
Over the past few months, Murphy has developed the designs and patterns herself for the brand on Canva and Procreate, before putting it on a model in Adobe Illustrator so she can see the product on someone.
She has worked with manufacturers, built the brand identity, launched social media and started creating a community.
Murphy’s biggest goal for the business is to one day be a sponsor of Surf Life Saving Australia. She also wants Saltè Swimwear to be well known and loved by lots of girls in the active community.
A day in the life of a teenage entrepreneur
Currently, Murphy spends 15 hours a week working on the brand, alongside her studies and sporting commitments.
“A typical day for me is I go to training at 5am and then I go to school. I sometimes do some business work in the car on the way to school, because I don’t get to in the morning,” she said.
“I then come home from school and go back to training, and then come home from training, do my homework, and then do some more business work.”
When asked how she juggles everything, Murphy says she is very organised.
“[I] plan my social content on the weekends, and then I try to schedule them for the week to post simultaneously,” she said.
“I also try to get all my study done on the weekend, and I have a checklist that I work through.”
Murphy believes Saltè Swimwear represents a new generation of young women entrepreneurs who are creating products from real experience and solving problems they personally understand.
For now, Murphy says she will continue working to grow Saltè Swimwear to make it bigger and better. She also wants to possibly branch out into different sections, such as menswear.
“I am coming out with some board shorts soon, as they’ve been highly requested,” she said.
For Murphy the biggest lesson from her journey so far as a teenage founder is just to get started.
“I would say that you’re never too young to start, and if you wait until you feel ready to start, then you’re never going to start. You just have to get on with the process and see how it turns out.”
