It's a rare man who manages to combine luxury retail, cattle rearing and umbilical cord blood collection into the one career. Theo Onisforou manages to combine it all into the one week.
“I'm an unusual individual,” he concedes down the speaker phone, en route to a business engagement. The former lawyer and investment manager for Kerry Packer's Consolidated Press has his fingers in many pots including a cattle farm in New South Wales' Southern Highlands and publicly listed cryogenic cord blood storage company, Cryosite.
But somewhere in the midst of it all he also manages to operate as a landlord to some of Australian fashion's leading lights: Zimmermann, Camilla and Marc, Scanlan & Theodore, Marnie Skillings and many more.
It all started 15 years ago when a snaking line of terraces along Glenmore Road in Sydney's well-heeled Paddington became available for purchase. Onisforou snapped them up and in doing so became an owner of retail sites adjacent to Sydney's high street fashion mecca, Oxford Street.
“I've always thought the corner of Glenmore Road and Oxford Street was divine because of the sandstone Victoria Barracks, the lawn in front of the sandstone, the trees on that strip of green and because the terraces were all usual and interesting,” Onisforou explains. “By the way, I like the buildings – full stop. I didn't necessarily plan the fashion component until later. I just like the buildings. I am a frustrated architect.”
But while the vision to create a retail hub for Australian fashion designers may not have preoccupied Onisforou's thinking 15 years ago, the idea did begin to take root over time.
“I am a great fan and have been for many years of Brompton Cross in London and I really thought, 'Wow, it's got a very special feel about it’. I thought Sydney needed an iconic fashion destination.”
When two additional properties alongside Onisforou's existing investments in Paddington come up for sale, the idea of a top-notch Australian fashion hub began to transform into reality. Onisforou bought the additional sites and rebuilt them into what has been Scanlan & Theodore's retail home in Sydney for the past six years.
“Gary Theodore believed in what I was going to do and was the first to sign on,” Onisforou says. “Scanlan & Theodore are an iconic Australian label. Having them on board made other labels sit up and take notice and thereafter it became a lot easier.”
Now, in a retail precinct he has dubbed 'The Intersection', Onisforou has no less than 19 fashion tenant – among them Willow, Sass & Bide, Ginger & Smart, Zambesi, Alannah Hill, Ksubi and Kirrily Johnston.
Not one to shy away from speaking plainly, Onisforou argues his work in creating The Intersection has changed Paddington shoppers' habits.
“In the old days, we were the wrong end of Oxford Street, Paddington. In the old days, the top end of Paddington near Paddington Markets was the popular end of Oxford Street, Paddington. That is no longer the case. I am confident when I say to you that my part of Paddington is the most in demand.”
Today, The Intersection is Onisforou's only fashion-related investment, but this businessman first got involved in fashion as a financial backer of Mark Keighery's Marcs label, founded in 1979. That interest dissolved in 2002 when Marcs was acquired by Oroton. When Keighery passed away in 2008, Onisforou took over Keighery's role as the local licensee for denim brand Diesel, though he sold that business onto Pacific Brands in January of this year.
Roxy Jacenko, a former employee of Onisforou and now public relations maestro for many in the fashion trade, including Onisforou, describes him as “the most shrewd and savvy business person I know”.
“He isn’t in business to make friends, but influence them – yes. While it's an approach which some may find frightening I find it inspiring. It's about doing a job, breaking the barriers of what the ‘norm’ would do and making it something that is unique and profitable for all parties involved.”
Onisforou agrees it’s the 'unique' aspect of The Intersection that appeals to him.
“I think it's unique and it's always fun to do something unique. I think there is nothing like it in Australia and I'm proud of it, I'm proud of its success. I don't think I've had a vacant shop there for six or seven years and compare that to the rest of Sydney. It's not just a series of boxes. It's architecturally fantastic.”
In fact, get him talking about architecture and that’s when the conversation really starts to flow. He describes King Street, Newton, in Sydney as architecturally “interesting”, thinks Campbell Parade in Sydney's Bondi Beach “stinks” and admires Chapel Street in Melbourne as much for its “great restaurants” as its fashion.
“I don't think people really think about how a visually pleasing environment makes them feel better.
“I believe cities need to be enjoyed outdoors, not indoors. I've never liked shopping malls because it becomes a fake environment created by air conditioning. I believe Sydney particularly is a city to be enjoyed outdoors and that means the high street. I'm a believer in the high street.”