Editor's Letter December 2011

THIS is the biggest issue of WISH. We realise we've made this claim a few times now but this one, at 120 pages, really is the biggest.

THE magazine you are holding in your hands is the biggest issue of WISH we've ever produced. And, yes, we realise we've made this claim a few times now but this one, at 120 pages, really is the biggest. So far, at least. As a magazine all about luxury, size is something that seems to matter.

When it comes to luxury, big is definitely better these days.

This month Louis Vuitton - the world's biggest luxury brand - will open its biggest store in Australia in Sydney and with 1200sqm of selling space it's really big. Before the store's official opening I was fortunate to be given a tour by the company's Oceania chief executive Philip Corne. While I'm loath to use an expression like "world class" to describe it, the new store is on a par with the scale of luxury stores found in cities such as London, New York and Hong Kong. And Louis Vuitton is not alone in opening bigger and better stores here. This month also sees the opening of a massive new Gucci store in Sydney and in recent months the likes of Prada, Ermenegildo Zegna, Hermes and Burberry have all expanded the size of their retail offering. And it's not just in Sydney. In Melbourne, Tiffany & Co opened a store on Collins Street that is three times the size of its previous premises in the same location. And while luxury brands like bigger boutiques to better showcase their products, the size of these new luxury stores is also a reflection of the growth of the Australian market.

To say there's been a luxury boom in Australia in 2011 would be an understatement. This year luxury brands including Bottega Veneta, Diane von Furstenberg and Miu Miu have opened their first Australian stores and when a refurbishment of the former Louis Vuitton store on Castlereagh Street is completed the first Australian Christian Dior boutique will open some time thereafter. And then there have been new stores by Chanel in Brisbane, Tag Heuer in Sydney, Bulgari and Burberry in Melbourne's Crown complex as well as additional stores to the ones I've already mentioned by Gucci and Bottega Veneta in Sydney's The Star. And, of course, there are more to come in 2012. What does this all mean? Well, for one thing it means bricks and mortar retail is far from dead. Australian consumers often complain that international luxury brands only offer a small selection of what is available elsewhere. That argument is increasingly becoming harder to sustain.

As this is our last issue for 2011, we'd like to thank you for your comments and feedback during the past year and hope you have a great summer break. We'd also like to thank Hayman on the Great Barrier Reef for hosting our Christmas food and fashion shoot (some backstage shots are pictured here).

As always, we invite your feedback at facebook.com/wishmagazine.