Melbourne’s fashion icon Christine Barro to celebrate stores’ 20th anniversary
For decades, Christine Barro’s love of accessories and design has helped complete the look of stylish Melburnians, and the original influencer has no plans to stop.
Lifestyle
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Melbourne style queen Christine Barro knows everything there is to know about accessories. She’s been the go-to girl for designer brands for nearly five decades and is still at the top of Australia’s fashion scene.
She’s responsible for introducing Prada and Fendi to the Australian market and is the only local stockist for world-renowned designers Martin Grant, Philip Treacy and cult label The Vampire’s Wife, designed by Susie Cave, wife of legendary musician Nick Cave.
Her salon Christine — famously housed in a luxurious basement in Flinders Lane for 18 years and more recently at the Paris end of Collins St — will celebrate its 20th anniversary early next year.
Her client list reads like a who’s who of the country’s social elite, as well as a mix of style-conscious, chic women who prefer to fly under the radar rather than flaunt their fashion purchases on social media.
Not that Barro would ever be so gauche as to reveal their names.
“I like people to be real and ooze their own persona,” she says.
“The woman has become ageless, so it’s about someone’s attitude. I think women are more confident about being who they are and not being a victim of marketing.”
Barro, 70, is the epitome of style, substance and sophistication and a walking billboard for her business.
Beautifully spoken and impeccably mannered, she walks the talk, exuding her own unique and endearing charm.
A passion for fashion and design, as well as meticulous attention to detail, is in Barro’s blood. Her mother Margaret was a brilliant decorator, while her grandmother Jessica was the local designer and dressmaker in her hometown of Narrandera, NSW.
“My mother was multi-talented, whether it was a couture lampshade with the finest pleating or superfine cake decorating for special occasions,” Barro says.
“My grandmother was a beautiful designer and dressmaker. We spent a lot of time with her over the school holidays. She taught us how to cut and sew a pattern.”
But the pivotal moment that would shape Barro’s life came when she was very young.
“When I was four, I was put into the hospital to have my tonsils out. I remember I was given, for being such a good girl, a beautiful bottle-green leather shoulder bag from my mother and I kept that bag forever,” she says.
It began a lifelong love and appreciation of accessories.
When she left school, Barro began art class by night and worked at David Jones during the day, eventually completing a buyer’s course offered at the department store.
“Once I decided to stay and do the buyer’s course, I moved to the sixth floor, the international designer floor. Beril Jents was a famous dressmaker and designer in Sydney and she would send people to see me to get their accessories,” Barro says.
“People would land out of the lift and say, ‘I’m here to see Christine’. People like Sir Robert Helpmann and Pauline Gandel. That’s why I thought I’d call my store Christine.”
Barro moved to Melbourne when she was 22 and landed a plum job at the exclusive Georges department store.
“I started on the fashion floor and then became buyer for jewellery and then gradually added to that,” she says.
“Back then there was a buyer for everything, every department — a glove buyer, a scarf buyer. As people retired I took on more.”
Following her first European buying trip at 23, Barro quickly gained a reputation for her discerning eye and ability to predict trends. She was also one of the first to introduce in-store events designed to captivate and educate customers.
“I put in a label I didn’t really like because I knew I could get Pavarotti to come and open the store,” she says.
“There was another time, I can’t remember the brand, but Paloma Picasso came and launched it, so we always did great events.
“At the end of the high-flying ’80s, when everyone went into black after the stock market crash and the whole disaster, I could see people wanted to buy beautiful things but needed to be sensible, so I decided to do fashion workshops.
“I was so nervous about how I was going to speak and someone said to me, ‘Christine, you’re talking about something you know so just talk about it’.”
Barro set up a rack of her own clothes and accessories and shared her fashion tips and tricks.
“I told them fashion is an evolution not a revolution and if you find two or three designers that suit your style, follow them.
“You might only afford a pant this season and then get the jacket next season and it will all still go together. Then you might go and find a vintage shoe to go with it. And then I showed them how old some of my clothes were and showed them the classic Chanel shoe and they thought, ‘Oh, that’s how it works’. Back in the day people thought they had to buy a whole new outfit and discard other things.”
Barro says the workshops were a huge success and spurred her to continue to create interesting and informative events in store.
“I started creating theatre and some reason to come to the store and they loved it,” she says.
“I learnt and understood that it’s one thing to focus on the buying calendar but what events are you doing? If you don’t make an experience in the store, why do people need to come?”
It’s a philosophy that could not be more relevant in the current retail climate where fast fashion and online shopping are decimating traditional bricks-and-mortar stores.
“Absolutely, it’s more relevant than ever. I’ve carried that philosophy into my own store and have an event chart every year. Some things are consistent and some have to be a surprise, something to share in a changing world.”
The most memorable of those events was a Philip Treacy showing in her Flinders Lane salon in November 2011.
“We invited him out to a spring racing event. When I met him in the September (in London), he said, ‘Christine, I’m coming all this way, we need to do a show’. I was that panicked trying to work out where we would do a show, my phone bill when I got home was $3500,” Barro recalls.
They ended up hosting pre-show drinks in the boutique, conducting the show on the back fire stairs looking out on the lane, followed by an after-party in her apartment upstairs.
Barro says her success comes from recognising fashion is a language and there is a skill in learning how to read it.
“It’s like a formula. The thing I say in my salon is the garment is the canvas and you keep repainting a picture of you and that’s the wonderful thing with accessories,” she says.
“You totally can change where you’re going. I’ve got a marvellous Martin Grant shirt which can be very chic and dressy by night but it can also be quite lifestyle. It’s just a matter of what you put with it.
“Like how a colourful scarf can also be a shrug and you almost only have to have a
T-shirt and go to dinner with this over your shoulder. It’s the fun of expression and changing who you are.
“I love seeing people trying on hats and sunglasses because it changes your face so you can be anyone. You can break the rules and make it work for you.”
While she has lived a life of great experiences and privilege, it has also been peppered with sadness and loss.
She married the love of her life Peter Barro in 1992 and they welcomed a son later the same year. David was the light of their life but tragically suffered from the rare disease Hunter syndrome and died at the age of 15 in 2008.
“He was such a gorgeous boy, he taught me so much. We called him the champion of the world,” Barro says.
She and Peter, renowned for his generosity of spirit, business acumen and love of life, persevered despite their loss. But sadly Peter died last year aged 61.
“Peter could do anything, he was a genius,” Barro says.
“He had many titles, including chef Pierre, the minister for detail, the honorary queen because all the gay boys loved him and he loved them, and the mayor of Merrijig (where they had a country retreat). He always had fun.
“No never existed in his mind. He had me convinced he could beat this, but it was such
a rare and difficult disease (amyloidosis) and he gave it his best shot. He lived 10 years to our one, so he’s really 610.
“I put the boys together recently at the cemetery and a giant flock of galahs came and did a performance and then off they flew again. It was definitely Peter.”
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While Barro was reluctant to move from her much-loved basement store on Flinders Lane, she is now grateful she was forced out by developers and into her new upstairs digs on Collins St.
“I have to say I’m very glad to be out of Flinders Lane.
“I can’t tell you how gorgeous it is to be up here in a calm space, slightly on the hill. It’s a whole different feel.
“To be off the ground and with natural light, it’s like we’re in a little apartment. It’s divine, and our clients are loving it.
“I’m talking to Peter a lot. I’m wanting to do him proud because he was very much a part of this store.”
CHRISTINE’S TOP STYLE TIPS
— You don’t need plastic surgery if you know the tricks. It’s all about illusion and magic, whether it be the right angle of a hat or the position of brooch. It’s all about lift, height and slimming.
— When accessorising, whether it’s jewellery or a colour, use two points of contrast, never three. For example, wear a red hat and handbag but not a red shoe.
— It’s important to express your own style and persona and not be a victim to a brand. Be sure to put your own edit in the mix.
— Treat garments as the canvas and keep repainting your picture with accessories. The switch of a jewel, hat, sunglasses, scarf or shoe takes you from a spectator sport to a cocktail party.
— Get to know your purchase at home before it has an outing on your back.
kim.wilson@news.com.au