Is Brisbane to new Australian fashion Capital? Lisa O’Donnell investigates.
They are already here, and more are coming. Retailers are clearing the decks for those still to arrive, and welcoming those who have already made the move. It’s not the allure of an endless summer that has them banging down the door; they are answering the call of the fashion savvy Brisbanite. As Brisbane receives this steady procession of designer labels from interstate and overseas, will the pilgrimage to shop down south soon be unnecessary?
Iconic Australian designer Wayne Cooper, who has seven boutiques Australia-wide, opened his Brisbane store in the Wintergarden 15 years ago, and says he has noticed a big change in the Brisbane fashion scene over the past couple of years. “To start with, the girls were sale shoppers,” he says. “They loved to buy things on sale. About two or three years ago it all changed. Brisbane girls became really into their fashion and full price clothes, and my Brisbane store became the best store. It became really strong.” Cooper says women now are more educated about what is happening on the catwalks overseas, and have been able to translate that into the fashion they wear.
Hailing from Brisbane, sass & bide knew their home town was the place for a second flagship boutique, and opened the doors to their stylish new residence in New Farm earlier this year — the duo felt their city was really on the rise and the timing was right. “The number of sophisticated consumers in Brisbane has really grown,” say Clarke and Middleton. “This is part of the ongoing evolution of Brisbane’s style with cool and edgy destinations such as James Street.”
The sass & bide boutique in New Farm carries the same stock as the Sydney store, and both stores have the same buy of the collections. The only difference is the quantities of each style, which vary due to the difference in population. Cooper also sends his entire collection, including the winter pieces, to the Wintergarden because it all sells. “Brisbane women buy winter garments because they travel interstate and overseas,” he says. “We wouldn’t send them up there if we didn’t sell them, and we do.”
However many Brisbane folks still have the mentality that they need to fly to Sydney or Melbourne for their shopping holiday, says Wintergarden manager Melinda Boyle. “Brisbane certainly has the full contingent of garments and labels, people just choose to believe the grass is greener down south,” she adds.
Brooke Lindsay, owner of the Nancy King boutique in Southbank, disagrees. “In terms of high-end items, I don’t think Brisbane is quite there yet,” Lindsay says. “We don’t have a Chanel, a Bulgari, or a Prada, and when you look at the main hub of specialty stores in Sydney and Melbourne, there is still a lot to be desired in Brisbane.” It’s why she chose to open her boutique in the first place: to provide Brisbane with an enviable list of international labels (as well as exclusive Australian designers) to play with.
Amber Long, owner of the Emporium’s Jean Brown salon, saw a gap in the Queensland market for women who knew their products and had the capacity to buy them. She now carries Chloe, Lanvin, YSL and Balenciaga, with Manolo Blahnik and Prada on their way.
Lindsay saw a similar opening in the market for Nancy King. “There were so many opportunities for the inclusion of more international labels in the Brisbane market,” Lindsay says. “There was a gap for real ‘item’ pieces centred on international designers. To be in Nancy King, you really need to be showing on the New York fashion circuit.”
The online revolution is also providing Brisbane consumers with even more labels at their fingertips. With one click of the mouse, the latest designs can be bought without so much as putting a YSL pump to pavement. Marnie Goss, owner of e-boutique Frockshop, says Brisbane residents are able to purchase everything that Sydney and Melbourne residents can, and they do. Australian sales make up 60% of her business, with Queensland sales an important contributor. “I used to think Brisbane residents were not as stylish as Sydney and Melbourne, but they have come a long way,” Goss says.
Many stores have caught the online bug. Sass & bide launched their e-boutique last month, and Witchery and FCUK are virtual stalwarts of the online trade. But irrespective of the e-shopping trend, Goss acknowledges there will always be a need for department stores and boutiques. “Shopping is an experience that women use to celebrate and commiserate, and this is best achieved by pounding the pavements and wandering in and out of those shops,” she says.
Boyle says the Brisbane ragtrade has never been better, thanks to the strength of the Brisbane economy right now. “Residents are earning more money and spending more on fashion,” she says. Even Kirstie Clements, editor of Australian Vogue, gave her stamp of approval after attending Brisbane’s Mercedes-Brisbane Fashion Festival in September, saying how much she loved the unpretentious Brisbane scene. “The women are great at embracing colour, and are crazy for fashion,” Clements told Sydney’s Sun-Herald magazine. The sass & bide girls agree. “Brisbane customers are quite colourful with their style, and they aren’t afraid to try something different,” say Clarke and Middleton.
But value for money is still a priority. Enter the diffusion line, which is providing the budget-conscious Brisbane shopper with a piece of the action. Marc by Marc Jacobs and See by Chloe are diffusion lines both exclusive to Nancy King, and the Wayne by Wayne Cooper line for Myer has been in store for two months. Cooper, who is also designing a childrenswear line to be rolled out in Autumn/Winter next year, says sales through the Brisbane Myer store have been good. “The diffusion line is a cheaper price point and it is amazing — it sells so well,” he says. So well in fact, that key garments will be cherry picked by the designer and sold through his boutiques around Australia next season.
CBD retail developments such as the Wintergarden and Queens Plaza have lured some impressive talent to Brisbane, with Zimmerman, Gorman, Aesop and G-Star the latest additions to the QP line-up. Boyle says department stores have also been instrumental in bringing the hottest fashion labels to the city — between Myer and David Jones, labels such as Alex Perry, Karen Walker, Leona Edmiston, Collette Dinnigan and Willow have found a Brisbane address. The next project for the city will be the launch of the fully refurbished David Jones in Queens Plaza in February 2008, which will double the floor space of the existing store providing additional possibilities for more designer labels.
There is no doubt about it — the Brisbane fashion scene is getting better and better. And according to Cooper, the way things are developing, the city will soon have all the big designers and the big labels. CBD centre managers are already talking to international retail giants Mango and Zara, according to Boyle, to seek their commitment to the Brisbane market over the next few years. “It will be just like when you go to Paris or any of the big cities,” Cooper says. “Apart from a few local designers and individual boutiques, you don’t even know what town you are in, and that is what will happen to Brisbane. This is a great thing because it brings more to the city. It gives the customer more choice and makes them more educated about what is out there.”