Luxury fashion giant Giorgio Armani is preparing to launch its first ever Australian factory outlet. The high-profile brand will join a host of fashion retailers in a soon to be opened DFO complex at South Wharf in Melbourne.
Scheduled to open in late October or early November, the site will also house French Connection, Country Road, Veronika Maine and a branch of international fashion label Calvin Klein.
DFO parent company Austexx plans to convert its existing DFO site in nearby Spencer Street into a full-price shopping centre once South Wharf is up and running.
Austexx chief executive officer Frank De Rango said consumer demand was strong enough to sustain both operations.
“They are five or six minutes apart, but when we opened at Spencer Street we had a view that the site was just too good ... to be a DFO and that one day it may become a full-price centre,” he said. “We will now convert it to be a full-price centre and revamp it.”
The South Wharf development forms the retail element of a grand plan for Melbourne’s Docklands, which includes the new convention centre attached to the existing exhibition centre, a Hilton hotel and some commercial office space.
Austexx is also developing the waterfront section of the precinct into a restaurant and café strip, retaining the old cargo sheds for their heritage value.
Austexx, which now has eight DFOs – at Homebush in Sydney; Brisbane Airport, Cairns and Jindalee in Queensland; Essendon Airport, Spencer St and Moorabin in Victoria and one in Canberra – also plans to build a new full-price shopping centre at Flinders Mall in Townsville.
Giorgio Armani declined to comment on its new factory outlet site. The European-headquartered brand operates a string of stores across Australia under the Emporio Armani, Giorgio Armani and Armani Exchange brands.