Every success needs a strong partner. Imagine what would’ve been for Michael Jordan without Scottie Pippen by his side. Any US president without a devoted First Lady. John Lennon without Paul McCartney. The Australasian bus and coach industry is built on similar partnerships – operators combining to drive forward safety developments, chassis and body manufacturers working on the latest models and suppliers interweaving with these members throughout. While StyleRide is renowned in the local industry for being a loyal partner to many manufacturers and operators, its success can also be attributed to a flourishing connection with the Shann Group.
As one of Australasia’s leading textile and specialty fabric distributors, Shann’s local legacy traces back to 70 years ago on the dot when Frank O’Shannassy started the business at Mountfield Avenue in Chadstone, Victoria. While the Melbourne suburb is popularly known for being home to the largest shopping centre in the Southern Hemisphere, it also serves as the start of Shann’s presence in the fabric game. In 1956, Frank sold sewing thread and zips out of the family home, with his wife and children lending a hand with some of the day-to-day operations.
Over the decades, Frank’s small business has evolved alongside fashions and trends, with Shann celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2026. With a network that spans seven locations across three countries and nearly 100 people, the transport industry, specifically through the bus sector and StyleRide, has become another key pillar for the Victorian business.
“Shann is one of Australasia’s leading suppliers to manufacturers– key industries include industrial fabrics, print media, windows, furniture, marine, bedding, clothing, retail craft and automotive, including caravans, RV and transport seating customers,” Shann Group national product and marketing manager Melissa Vine told ABC.
“We operate across Australia and all of Shann’s branches are full service, including warehouse and office space. Shann has grown to have more than 15,000 square metres (161,000 square feet) of warehouse space in seven branches across three countries in our region, holding over 30,000 stock keeping units (SKUs).”
As the business has grown, it expanded into wider circles, including the transport industry. Central to this foray has been Shann’s partnership with StyleRide – an Australian seating supplier with rich global history supporting its local growth.
Vine says StyleRide has quickly become an “important customer” for Shann for many years now. Combined with Shann’s own strength – its diversity of products that allows Shann to act as a one-stop shop for its customers across a variety of sectors and its full service branches offering top notch service in a localised and structured way across Australia’s major hubs – StyleRide has been able to forge a strong local partnership in the transport sector.
“This is certainly one of the strengths of our business with StyleRide – we supply them with a number of quality products including canvas, genuine leather, accessories and Vegas, one of our flagship products,” Vine says.
The Vegas offering has become a popular part of the Australasian bus and coach industry. Vine says the Vegas microfibre leather product is the market leader and is perfect for upholstery applications.
“StyleRide loves working with it, so much so that recently we worked together, and with our Vegas supplier, to attain CRIB 7 certification,” she says.
“CRIB 7 is a stringent flammability standard that measures the ignitability of upholstered products. Vegas’ successful development to this standard allows the versatile material to be used in projects for transport seating where compliance is an uncompromisable requirement – an important category for StyleRide.”
From the seating supplier’s perspective, the growing partnership between the two Australian businesses has been important. StyleRide national business development manager Troy Wells says the flexibility of the pair has allowed them both to provide exciting seating options to the local transport market.
“It’s been a fantastic relationship to date between StyleRide and Shann,” he told ABC.
“They’ve supported us every step of the way. If we’ve made requests to them, they’ve helped us out quickly.”
A key example of this occurred recently when StyleRide requested Shann to manufacture fabric with a specific colour that was new to the Victorian business. While the colour wasn’t in its current range, Shann went out of its way to produce it for StyleRide.
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“The product itself has proven to be very reliable, while it’s cost effective too,” Wells says.
“The feedback from customers about our Shann fabrics has always been very good.”
This dependability has seen the partnership flourish, with Shann’s presence in StyleRide’s various seating models continuing to rise. Wells says there’s been “dramatically more” StyleRide seats being made currently that use Shann’s fabric, specifically its popular Vegas range. Throughout this evolution, Wells says there’s never been a warranty claim made by a customer on a StyleRide product using Shann fabric.
“The relationship is ongoing and it has proven reliable over the journey – Shann has been terrific,” he says.
“We don’t receive any complaints from anyone on these fabrics. Shann’s materials are used in a wide range of our products, from our school bus seats, all the way through to our premium offerings.
“Customer feedback has been fantastic – people are impressed by the quality of the fabric, the look and feel of it and how easy it is to maintain.”
Another important stepping stone in the pair’s blossoming partnership has been capitalising on any opportunities that have presented themselves. From Shann’s perspective, the fabric supplier recalls a particular highlight being when it could help find the right colour fabric for StyleRide seats as part of the brand’s growth in the New South Wales bus and coach market.
“Shann and StyleRide worked together to create a custom colour popular in bus and coach seating that was perfectly suitable for NSW transport,” Vine says.
“Vegas now ticks all the boxes to generate important new opportunities for StyleRide and Shann.”
This growth in NSW hasn’t just been linked to metro and school bus opportunities. In the middle of last year, global tourism and charter transport provider Flix announced it would be launching in Australia. By the end of the year, various operators, including Deanes Coaches, Sunbury Coaches and Bundaberg Coaches, had launched maiden Flix runs, with new buses being supplied as part of the milestone. With these latest vehicles came an opportunity for StyleRide, with the help of Shann fabrics, to supply top quality seats.
“These new Flix services, whether it be through Deanes, Sunbury or Bundaberg Coaches vehicles, now use Vegas on their seats,” Wells says.
“We look forward to what lay ahead and tackling the challenges that may arise – we’re very appreciative of the support from our customers in the industry and the role Shann plays in helping StyleRide grow.”
Flexibility and pouncing on opportunity – it’s a perfect summary of how the two local brands have worked together to grow and thrive in the local bus and coach sector. This dynamic nature has allowed Shann to reach a special milestone in its history in 2026, with the Victorian business in the midst of celebrating its 70th anniversary since Frank O’Shannassy first started sewing zips and threads out of the Chadstone family home.
The business used the anniversary to launch a new logo but reiterates its value and commitment to customers and staff remains unchanged.
“With a team built upon decades of industry knowledge and experience, backed by a comprehensive inventory of around 30,000 SKUs, you can rely on the quality and expertise we, and our products, deliver,” Vine says.
“We’re also very proud to have over a third of current Shann personnel clocking in at least 10 years of service.”
Anniversaries are often a time for reflection, with both Shann and StyleRide looking back on a flourishing partnership that’s paying dividends in the Australasian bus and coach market. But neither Shann nor StyleRide are spending much time stopping and smelling the roses – Shann will launch an updated colour range for Vegas in the back half of this year, meaning innovation and opportunities will continue taking both Shann and StyleRide forward in 2026 and beyond.
“The future is really bright – StyleRide is an innovation leader with its seating solutions,” Vine says.
“Its commitment to quality and forefront design matches our own. Shann offers an exceptional product range to StyleRide that helps it to meet the comfort, reliability and intelligent design that it’s known for in the local transport market.”
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