7 July 2026
Can a paintbrush build a brand?
For 33 years, Juslink has been transforming Australian bedrooms by continually reinventing the business behind them.
Can an everyday object such as bed linen evoke the feeling of walking through a lush tropical rainforest?
For Juslink, the Australian manufacturer behind homewares brand LUXOTIC, that question reflects more than a design ambition. It speaks to how the 33-year-old business has evolved from a fabric importer into a textile company with its own brands, offshore manufacturing, direct-to-consumer ambitions and exports to more than 20 markets.
Founded in 1993 by John Lin as a fabric importer in Rockdale, Sydney, Juslink has had to reinvent itself several times. Today, the business is known for its bold homewares designs, but its success has been built on a willingness to adapt, innovate and embrace new opportunities.
Reinvention through adversity
The company's first major test came in the late 1990s when a key customer went broke.
Rather than walk away, the business swapped the customer's debt for its assets and moved into sheet and quilt production, selling to big names like Spotlight, Target, Aldi and Harvey Norman.
That decision laid the groundwork for future growth. Juslink moved most of its textile manufacturing offshore in the early 2000s, and in 2006 acquired its existing 10,000-square-metre warehouse and distribution centre in Auburn.
The 2008 Global Financial Crisis presented another challenge. Yet when COVID arrived in 2020, the business experienced the opposite effect as Australians invested more heavily in their homes.
“People had a lot of money but they're not travelling, they're spending on their homes, and our business actually exploded,” says Juslink General Manager for Australia and New Zealand John Tseng. “During COVID we were 200 per cent up in sales, which was unheard of.”
Today, Juslink employs more than 140 people worldwide with regional headquarters in Sydney and Shanghai and operations in Germany, India, Pakistan and the US. It also owns its own manufacturing facility in China: Jiangsu Autex Textile Industrial Co. Ltd.
Backing people over algorithms
While many manufacturers race to outsource innovation and design capabilities to AI, Juslink continues to invest in human creativity as a key point of difference.
A studio of eight designers pens the unique themes that have made LUXOTIC's linen a firm favourite among Australian consumers and helped build an international following. Each design begins as an original artwork, hand-painted in Sydney using watercolours or acrylics, before being transferred onto fabric using digital printing technology capable of reproducing over 800 colours in a single pattern. The result is bedding that belongs on a gallery wall as much as it does in a bedroom.
The team draws inspiration from global trend events such as Paris Fashion Week and Heimtextil, a German home textiles trade show.
But real-life experiences can be equally influential. Take the vivid botanical imagery of LUXOTIC's popular Azura Selva linen set depicting lilies, hibiscus and a hummingbird busily drinking nectar. It was informed by the designer's observations on a walk through a rainforest section of Sydney's Northern Beaches.
For CEO Bo Lin, creating an emotional connection with customers is central to the business's strategy. “The pinnacle for us is to move people, to immerse them in beauty and nature,” he says.
“My four-year-old daughter was about to go to sleep and she said, ‘Daddy, I've got two birds on my pillowcase. Do you have any on your pillowcase?’ That's actually the core of what we're trying to achieve.
Growing beyond the product
In recent years, Juslink has broadened its ambitions beyond its flagship brand.
The company launched The Honest Label in 2022 with a focus on natural fibres and ethical sourcing and is currently preparing to launch a third brand.
At the same time, Juslink expanded into direct online sales through its own website, adding another chapter to its growth story.
It’s also looking to the future when it comes to talent, working with several Sydney universities to identify and mentor gifted design students.
“By hosting mentorships, we are nurturing future artists,” John says. “As a company, we’ve come a long way from simply supplying products. Today our focus is on sustainability, beautiful design and building our own brand but it’s also about giving back to the community however we can.”
For Juslink, growth has come not from standing still, but from continually evolving.
How NAB has partnered with Juslink at every stage
NAB's Western Sydney-based business banking team has worked alongside Juslink for much of its 30-year journey, supporting the business through key stages of growth and expansion.
“NAB has been a strong community bank for us, in a business sense,” says Juslink CEO Bo Lin. “It's less transactional, more relationship driven.”
As Juslink evolved, that support extended to major milestones, including the acquisition of its 10,000 sqm Auburn facility, a business restructure to help establish a new trading entity, and the implementation of FX and trade finance solutions to support its international operations.
To help streamline foreign exchange management, NAB’s local team even appointed a Mandarin-speaking dealer to work directly with Juslink’s Shanghai-based CFO.
For NAB senior business banking manager Jessie Zhu, regular site visits have also been central to building the relationship. “I tend to bring the whole team,” she says. “And every single time I visit, the relationship deepens. We genuinely care about the business and they feel that.”
The relationship has also extended beyond the business. After Bo returned to Australia in 2023 following 15 years in Shanghai, Jessie navigated the challenges of his limited local financial records to secure a home loan.
Going the extra mile is an important part of solidifying business relationships, says NAB Business Banking Executive Perin Burhardt. “Helping Bo, that was very personal to him.”
