Why Melbourne is Australia’s fashion capital

Find your style in Melbourne, one neighbourhood at a time.

The heart and home of Australian style, Melbourne offers the best in high-end fashion at its centre, a superlative blend of haute couture and the avant-garde, where the locally sourced innovation of Scanlan Theodore, Alpha60 and Kuwaii lines up with the likes of global fashion houses Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana and Paul Smith.

Ready for more of that signature inventiveness? A short tram ride from the city centre lies the excitement of another unique collection: Melbourne’s neighbourhoods — distinct in energy and ambience.

FITZROY & COLLINGWOOD

Choose Fitzroy for its galleries, studios, record shops and Melbourne designers. Glorious street art is the perfect backdrop — with large colourful murals along Johnston Street and eye-catching pieces dotted throughout the backstreets between Smith and Brunswick Streets.

Learn why ‘made in Melbourne’ means made with love at local labels Limb the Label, HoMie, Kloke, and Kinki Gerlinki, but there is plenty beyond that. At The Rose Street Artists’ Market you’ll find more than 100 stalls with photographs, clothes, jewellery and paintings from Melbourne’s makers.

Shop more local fashion along Gertrude Street at sustainable fashion institution Obus, contemporary casual-wear store Handsom and the bold glamour of Edgeley. For the gents, don’t go past SMART, Alec Hatters for a hat for every occasion and just around the corner sample bespoke men’s shoes and accessories at Double Monk.

Smith Street marks the border between Fitzroy and Collingwood and is a mecca for those with a taste for vintage, retro and homewares. You’ll find all things ceramics and handmade at Guild of Objects; vintage gems at Smith Street Bazaar and Vintage Garage; and The Social Studio has wares and manufactures by young migrants. Tucked in among them is the eccentric bookstore Happy Valley Shop.

BRUNSWICK & BRUNSWICK EAST

Brunswick and Brunswick East, north-west of Fitzroy and Collingwood, are where you’ll find boutiques and speciality stores that prove quirky is the norm here. A youthful sensibility courtesy of university students cosies up to a multicultural scene built on the Greek and Italian migrant legacy, with Mediterranean and now Middle Eastern cuisine.

Mr Kitly, above a fabric outlet in Sydney Road, is typically eclectic, a gallery-come-boutique of ceramics, plants, textiles and plants riffing on a Japanese theme; Dejour Jeans is a Melbourne institution with a dedicated following for its extensive denim range (at bargain prices) and bespoke tailoring. On Lygon Street are contemporary independents Monk House Design and The Boroughs, which describes itself as the “retail expression of neighbourhood and community”.

WINDSOR & PRAHRAN

South of the Yarra, visit Windsor and Prahran, united by the famous Chapel Street. From its earliest days a thoroughfare of traders and shops, this long strip retains its endless variety. No shopping trip is ever the same at Design A Space, a creative retail hub for local independent designers with a monthly rotation of collections. Plane Clothes, billed as plain (geddit) clothes for men and women, is not far from vintage-inspired home-towner Olga de Polga. While in Prahran, don’t miss south-side vintage institution Chapel Street Bazaar, a treasure trove of individual stalls for endless browsing.

Appetite whetted? There are a dozen more neighbourhoods to explore, each a style precinct that’s made and remade itself through experiment and the evolution of history, culture and commerce. From the conventional to the unorthodox, you can curate a custom mix that suits you and return time and time again to savour and celebrate this quintessential Melbourne experience.

This content was produced in association with Visit Melbourne. Read our policy on commercial content here.