Hayley Bonham is a serial entrepreneur. She is the Co-founder of Bonél PR, Maison D’Amore, La Porte Space and Maison La Porte, a series of successful businesses that she established over a seven year period that reflect her passion for design and creativity and that continue to thrive today.
With a background in fashion, wholesale and public relations, Hayley set up her first business, Bonél PR, in 2011 with her partner Rory Elsom. The business very quickly established itself and has over the years managed publicity for some of the world’s leading fashion brands such as Sandro Paris, Maje, Saint Laurent and Lancaster, as well as local labels such as Witchery, Saba and Albus Lumen. It also taught Hayley about the power of beautiful, creative office spaces, as well as how hard they were to find.
Always one to follow her passions, the following year Hayley launched a luxury fragrance house, Maison D’Amore, with her colleague Nada Rosa. Maison D’Amore was inspired by the friends’ mutual love of fragrance, fashion and art, and named after their late grandmothers, Mary-Ellen Maison and Dora D’Amore. Manufactured in Paris, the brand is stocked in high end stores around the world and sold locally at upscale fashion retailer Harrolds.
All the while, Hayley and her partner Rory were working on their biggest business idea to date. From their travels, the couple had spotted a void in the Australian market for a luxury service and space to facilitate the needs of startup and small businesses, especially those in the arts, tech and creative industries. In 2015, they gambled everything and launched La Porte Space, a boutique luxury creative space in Waterloo, providing premium serviced office spaces, photographic studios and event spaces for creative businesses. Hayley oversaw the design and vision for the space, Rory took care of the back end, and the business took off, generating waiting lists for spaces almost immediately. A second, bigger development, La Porte Deux, was launched in 2016 and the business now services over 50 premium luxury boutique offices and facilitates events for some of the world’s leading luxury lifestyle, fashion and hospitality brands. According to Vogue, “La Porte Deux distinguishes itself via sophisticated minimalist-meets-elegant French interiors…superb but low key services more in keeping with a boutique hotel such as concierge, barista and pilates classes; and a creative environment fostered by exclusive events, communal dining areas and a pop-up retail space, La Porte Marche.”
Hayley’s entrepreneurial journey continues, with planning underway for a La Porte Space in Melbourne and the first boutique luxury hotel from the group under construction. ‘Maison La Porte’, set to launch in 2018, is located in the Noosa Hinterland and set over 40 acres of heritage-listed organically-certified land. The hotel will reflect the brand and values of La Porte Space and the strong design signature Hayley has imprinted on all her projects. It will also allow Hayley to pursue a passion that has burgeoned with each new project; a drive to build sustainable spaces, and explore ways to build environmentally responsible tourism, encouraging guests to not only experience the environment but also to work with the property on ways to protect it. Hayley’s dream is for Maison La Porte to be fully self-sustained, and to take the learnings from this development into future La Porte Group developments, putting the environment at the heart of the brand’s ethos.
With a background in fashion, wholesale and public relations, Hayley set up her first business, Bonél PR, in 2011 with her partner Rory Elsom. The business very quickly established itself and has over the years managed publicity for some of the world’s leading fashion brands such as Sandro Paris, Maje, Saint Laurent and Lancaster, as well as local labels such as Witchery, Saba and Albus Lumen. It also taught Hayley about the power of beautiful, creative office spaces, as well as how hard they were to find.
Always one to follow her passions, the following year Hayley launched a luxury fragrance house, Maison D’Amore, with her colleague Nada Rosa. Maison D’Amore was inspired by the friends’ mutual love of fragrance, fashion and art, and named after their late grandmothers, Mary-Ellen Maison and Dora D’Amore. Manufactured in Paris, the brand is stocked in high end stores around the world and sold locally at upscale fashion retailer Harrolds.
All the while, Hayley and her partner Rory were working on their biggest business idea to date. From their travels, the couple had spotted a void in the Australian market for a luxury service and space to facilitate the needs of startup and small businesses, especially those in the arts, tech and creative industries. In 2015, they gambled everything and launched La Porte Space, a boutique luxury creative space in Waterloo, providing premium serviced office spaces, photographic studios and event spaces for creative businesses. Hayley oversaw the design and vision for the space, Rory took care of the back end, and the business took off, generating waiting lists for spaces almost immediately. A second, bigger development, La Porte Deux, was launched in 2016 and the business now services over 50 premium luxury boutique offices and facilitates events for some of the world’s leading luxury lifestyle, fashion and hospitality brands. According to Vogue, “La Porte Deux distinguishes itself via sophisticated minimalist-meets-elegant French interiors…superb but low key services more in keeping with a boutique hotel such as concierge, barista and pilates classes; and a creative environment fostered by exclusive events, communal dining areas and a pop-up retail space, La Porte Marche.”
Hayley’s entrepreneurial journey continues, with planning underway for a La Porte Space in Melbourne and the first boutique luxury hotel from the group under construction. ‘Maison La Porte’, set to launch in 2018, is located in the Noosa Hinterland and set over 40 acres of heritage-listed organically-certified land. The hotel will reflect the brand and values of La Porte Space and the strong design signature Hayley has imprinted on all her projects. It will also allow Hayley to pursue a passion that has burgeoned with each new project; a drive to build sustainable spaces, and explore ways to build environmentally responsible tourism, encouraging guests to not only experience the environment but also to work with the property on ways to protect it. Hayley’s dream is for Maison La Porte to be fully self-sustained, and to take the learnings from this development into future La Porte Group developments, putting the environment at the heart of the brand’s ethos.
