Byron Bay: Where you can still find authentic boutiques
No Hemsworths, no tourists and no music festivals. The real Byron Bay still exists if you know where to look.
Business
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Authentic shopping experiences in coastal towns are ‘dwindling’ but you can still find the Byron Bay of old if you’re looking in the right places.
These five stores are holding the fort when it comes to classic Byron buys – from clothing, jewellery, accessories and interior decoration.
As the traditional Byron Bay faces an ever shrinking presence, these five women are the real deal.
Mode Boheme
If you’re on the lookout for an authentic hippy-styled Byron Bay boutique, local fashion icon Shelley Eacott’s Mode Boheme the place to shop.
Mrs Eacott arrived at Byron Bay 30 years ago when the population contained mostly hippies, travellers and those of the “free-spirit” sort.
She became well-known for her other store Byron Bay Belle and has the nickname Shell Belle.
Now Mrs Eacott says the small coastal town it once was has developed into something bigger.
“People with money came along seeing that spirit and experiencing that feeling … and they decided to put their (large) businesses here,” she says.
“This happens all over the world and is happening in Byron”.
Mrs Eacott believes she has lasted so long as a seamstress in Byron Bay because she is passionate about women expressing themselves and encourages them to do it in a unique way through fashion.
“It’s all I’ve ever done and I love it,” she says.
“When people (who don’t live in Byron Bay) find me again, they say to me ‘oh my god, I’m so excited you’re still here, do you remember when I bought this dress from you 10 years ago.
“This is my passion, it comes from the heart.
“Byron Bay has healed me and the people in Byron Bay have healed me … it’s the way I’ve helped dress women and how they admire their new look in the mirror and feel beautiful.”
Mrs Eacott says seeing a woman appreciate and love something that she made brings her much joy.
“It makes me want to get on the sewing machine and make another thing for another woman, I can’t describe that feeling of happiness.”
LaStudio
Business owner and fashion designer Simone Ellis began her LaStudio business from the ground up, teaching sewing classes and gradually progressing to alterations and dress making.
She says everything at LaStudio is done in house.
“We don’t outsource anything,” she says.
“If you walk in the door and you want a wedding dress, everything gets done here and I feel like that is quite a rare thing in this day and age.”
Mrs Ellis has observed that over the past few years, more local businesses have been closing their doors and more large businesses have been opening up in Byron Bay.
“I’m personally not a fan of fast fashion, monopolising and pushing out small businesses. I don’t think it’s great for anyone,” she says.
Mrs Ellis says it is happening on a global scale and that’s why it is important to support small businesses.
“Otherwise they just dwindle out. Then we’re just left with these monopolising brands that take control in the arena and that’s not okay because it doesn’t give people an option and in a way it’s just like a dictatorship in retail,” she says.
In the future, Mrs Ellis says there should be an agency for fashion designers where people can explore their options to find a designer who’s style they like or what they resonate with best.
“They can give them specific design briefs to execute the project so it’s more direct to client marketing and we have less waste.”
Etnix
In the early 2000s, Etnix on Johnson Street was a well-known festival clothing brand that included designer pieces from Europe and travellers would flock there as everyone wanted to get their hands on them.
Now, it’s the place to visit for unique vintage clothing.
Fashion designer and owner Niki Szablyas, who is a world traveller born to a bohemian family and originally from Budapest, designs all the vintage pieces herself for the store.
Upon noticing a shift in the Byron Bay culture, Niki’s store is undergoing a transformation and will soon be called ‘Nikko’ — a childhood nickname the owner received from her brother.
“The vibe of Byron Bay has changed a lot as different people came up,” she says.
“Before there were a lot of tourists and people who were into spirituality and now it’s just a little bit more commercial.
“The people changed and the clothing changed too, they aren’t interested in unique clothing anymore.”
So Niki believed it was time to switch things up.
On top of designing the clothes for her store and looking after her two twin daughters, her supportive husband Andras refers to her as a “super mum” and says he “doesn’t know how she does it!”.
Sweetness Skulls and Light
Personal injury litigation lawyer Katherine McCullum had an accident in June 2012 when she fell off a balcony.
The fall resulted in her severing her spinal cord and becoming a complete paraplegic for life.
But that did not stop her from continuing to practise law and from beginning her own online business Sweetness Skulls and Light from her bed in 2013.
“It’s just gone 10 years; just because something doesn’t work out the way you envisioned it, it doesn’t mean it’s wrong,” she says.
“There’s always opportunities and if you don’t have that attitude you’re just making life more difficult than it needs to be.
“After the incidents had intense painful surgery and spent two years in bed so I decided to do something special to make me happy, something without limitations.”
Mrs McCullum knew she liked rocks and shiny things so she began a crystal carving business with mostly sparkling skulls.
“It sounds morbid but it’s not. Crystal skulls are a reminder that life is now and death is inevitable,” she says.
“I think a more approachable approach to death is how I prefer to live my life, knowing that it’s finite and if you want to do something you do it now.”
In 2016, Mrs McCullum moved to Byron Bay and opened her store in June 2019.
Being involved in Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations inspired her, saying “the skull culture is quite strong”.
The Dancing Pixie
If you are after stunning homemade homeware and other treasures including lighting, handpainted ceramic and sculptures, The Dancing Pixie on Johnson Street has Byron shoppers covered.
Store owner Amanda Gorr lived in Turkey for 10 years and her journey began with a travel blog called ‘thedancingpixie’ because she considered herself to be a pixie dancing around the globe.
“Being in Byron Bay is so awesome because you get to talk about your travels and everyone has such amazing travel experiences and stories to tell,” she says.
“People will sometimes come into the store and tell me that they saw an item in Turkey;, it’s an awesome place to still have that connection with people.
“Everything here is made by hand in Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Chile and some Australian-made products.”
The Dancing Pixie opened in December 2020, unfortunately just before another Covid-19 outbreak in Australia, which restricted people from Victoria or Queensland entering into New South Wales.
Between Covid, staff shortages and the March floods, Mrs Gorr said she could not wait for things to get back to normal.
“From a business point of view, it’s been exhausting,” she says.
“Supporting small businesses is important, we know where everything comes from, we have worked with the artisans, we know where they are working so it’s cool to support those people,” she says.
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