It is often said the key to running any successful business is to learn your mistakes at someone else's feet. It is advice taken to heart by the owners of fledging Adelaide boutique The New Guard, as Tracey Porter discovers.
There was a certain inevitability that dedicated design divas Erin Skipter and Anna Sergiou would one day own and operate their own womenswear store. Even before their 30th birthdays, the pair had spent a third of their collective lives immersing themselves in all things fashion.
For Skipter, 28, the idea of her own space formed when she was named the manager of a North Adelaide boutique, having worked her way through the brand’s busy buying and merchandising departments.
Across town 29-year-old Sergiou was entertaining similar thoughts while completing her fashion apprenticeship working on and off for a busy South Australian chain.
Stints working as national retail manager for high-end Sydney label Bettina Liano and London’s prestigious Browns Focus, under the direction of Aussie fashion director Yasmin Sewell, only strengthened her resolve.
Four months ago the duo realised their much-anticipated dream when they opened a 100 square metre space they christened The New Guard. Set in the Adelaide suburb of Unley, the pair say they intentionally turned their back on the city’s central retail strips and shopping malls, opting for a character-filled store space instead.
“We wanted a destination store so we avoided the areas where existing stores were. We also wanted to be in a beautiful old building and the one we found is an old art gallery in a strip more dedicated to homeware stores,” Skipter says.
Driven by Sergiou’s passion for “Danish modern and deco” fittings, the store boasts clean lines in a mixture of monochrome colours melded with historical pieces.
She adds it would be “very rare” to see too much evidence of frills or florals. “Located on [one of] Adelaide’s busiest roads, the first thing people see are our windows. The visual display of these windows depict new season, new labels, and the latest looks of the season. We have two beautiful lifelike mannequins in the windows that we change weekly – a common attraction to people passing.”
The colour blocking theme is continued in the girls’ selection of labels with Australian brands such as Therese Rawsthorne, Tina Kalivas, Ellery, Friedrich Gray and Ksubi competing for space alongside international labels Acne, APC, Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair and Surface to Air. Sizes carried range from six to 12 while price points vary between $100 to $2000.
As is usual with retailers with their background, both Skipter and Sergiou take the practice of buying extremely seriously and prefer going to showings rather than meeting with agents instore.
With just the pair of them to man the tills, buying appointments must be scheduled around store hours. Skipter says the duo do their homework to ensure viewed collections are in keeping with The New Guard aesthetic. “Having a feel for the collection and [finding] fits and fabrics that are tangible is [also] very important.”
It is clear their approach has hit the right note with its intended audience. Vogue Australia boasted the girls’ had created “a modern boutique experience, competitive on an international scale”.
“Every piece has been carefully considered, always keeping the Australian lifestyle in mind but offering something very new and very different,” the magazine gushed.
Consumers too have been quick to embrace Adelaide’s newest fashion retail offering with hundreds signing up for updates from the store via social media sites Facebook and Twitter.
Skipter says the pair launched the store’s Facebook page prior to the store opening, using the site to entice followers with a “watch this space” call to action. An online blog helps build on existing interest while other marketing initiatives include the launch of an online boutique to complement the store’s offering.
To help encourage repeat custom, regular customers are sent newsletters and are also invited to special pre-selling events.
Keen to keep up the early momentum, and with initial set up operations now firmly under control, the girls are now directing their energy to producing a locally made knitwear range.
Skipter says she is hopeful the brand’s early success will continue. “Starting the business was a breeze – it’s easy to work in an industry that you are passionate about and turning a dream into a reality. [At the end of the day it comes down to] staying true to your gut instinct and investing in what you believe in.”