Lorna Jane branches into wellness with Byron Bay retreat
Activewear pioneer Lorna Jane Clarkson has added to her property portfolio, snapping up Byron Bay’s SOMA wellness spa for $10.98 million, clocking a new high for hinterland hamlet Ewinsgdale.
Clarkson, who is ranked No. 68 on The Australian Financial Review Rich Women list with a valuation of $303 million, bought the property, known for being the setting of TV series Nine Perfect Strangers, from SOMA founders Gary Gorrow and Peter Ostick, who opened the retreat in 2019.
It is her third purchase in the Byron area, with Coorabell, the hinterland estate she bought for $14.1 million in 2021 (the site of Margot Robbie’s wedding to producer Tom Ackerley) and a beach house she also owns.
“It’s a magical place,” Clarkson said of SOMA. “I feel like it’s the perfect place to create a space where you can relax, rejuvenate and reconnect.
“I always say to people, ‘You need to create a life that you don’t want to escape from’. But there are times when I believe you do want to recharge and focus on yourself.”
Clarkson said she and husband Bill Clarkson (chief executive at Lorna Jane Active until 2023) had been looking for a retreat-style property for some time.
“Wellness is growing. When we found out that SOMA was on the market, we just jumped at it,” she said.
The transaction was handled by Will Phillips from Sotheby’s International Realty Byron Bay.
Little would change about SOMA, said Clarkson, who added that the property would not be rebranded to reflect its new owners.
“Right now, there is nothing much I would change. It’s booked out for the next five months. The team is fabulous, the property is just beautiful,” she said.
The founders will continue to run retreats, which have various focuses including yoga, meditation and breathing.
“Any changes we make will be small,” Clarkson said. “We want to bring our active living philosophy to life.
“The whole ethos of Lorna Jane has been that we want to change the way women live their lives, and we did that through the creation of activewear.”
Clarkson founded her clothing range in 1989 after working as an aerobics instructor and struggling to find apparel. The business now has 100 retail stores and reported revenue of $199.6 million for FY24, up from $198.3 million the previous year.
“Now the idea is to add a retreat to that mix for customers,” she said.
Clarkson said she hoped to offer more corporate retreats and use the property for activities such as conferences and podcast recordings. She did not rule out making appearances at retreats herself.
The retreat business is booming: McKinsey’s Future of Wellness report showed a surge in younger customers in particular seeking out travel experiences that would help them sleep, eat and perform better.
Wellness tourism, McKinsey predicted, would surge 16.6 per cent in 2025, amid a broader increase in interest in all things wellness, including the installation of saunas and ice baths in homes and office buildings.
“Why is this happening now? For me, it’s like, why has it taken people so long?” Clarkson said. “This feels like it’s been a long time coming for me. I was talking about activewear before other people, and now this. I mean, we all want to live forever, but if you’re not in good health, what’s the point?”
Clarkson’s SOMA purchase tops the $10.49 million paid by pub baron Arthur Laundy for nearby hospitality venue The Farm in 2020.
