Ragtrader regularly profiles new retail concept stores across Australia. Here, Erin O’Loughlin uncovers Zion.
Zion has appeared in Darlinghurst in Sydney. The space offers little for those of the Jewish faith but there is a lot in store for fans of streetwear label Pete Versus Toby. The names behind the four-year-old brand – Marco Zirov, Antoine Ryan and Damian Gordon – recently closed the doors on their debut Bondi store and set up shop in Darlinghurst. The new Crown Street store measures 20 sqm with an added studio out the back.
“We felt that a position in Darlinghurst suited our image much more,” Ryan says. That image is one peppered with subversive cultural references, such as Pete Versus Toby’s “Fashion Weak” range launched earlier this year while Rosemount Australian Fashion Week was in full swing.
The store itself was also designed by the three brand owners, and features an arresting tile mosiac of Australia on its floor.
“The artwork is a tribute to the original owners of this land,” Ryan says. “Zion is the promised land and we made a mosaic of the original language nations of Australia to pay homage to this.”
The sales counter is home to a yin and yang mosaic while the rear wall of the store is a giant chalk board, or what the Pete Versus Toby boys call their “hands-on blog”. Racks of apparel from Pete Versus Toby’s winter range, Rainbow Brolga, line the side walls.
A semi-circle swivel chair completes the décor.
In addition to its new home, Pete Versus Toby apparel is also available on the brand’s e-commerce site and in a range of stockists including Rag & Bone in Newcastle (NSW), Red Chair Boutique in Shepparton (Victoria) and Afends concept store in Byron Bay (NSW).
Now that they have opened Zion, Zirov, Ryan and Gordon plan to turn their hand to a number of new ventures, including some that extend beyond the world of fashion design.
“New ranges, new artworks, more deejaying and our rap debut!”