SYDNEY: A seemingly inadvertent move into bridalwear and a new retail presence in Queensland have got Akira Isogawa wondering if the downturn is just a myth.
The high-end designer said he decided to stage a subtle shift into the world of weddings after he found himself fielding requests to re-fashion ready-to-wear pieces for future brides.
"When we offered longer gowns in say black or red, we found there was interest in doing them in ivory. The great thing about bridalwear is it's timeless, so it's not necessary to create a new shape each season. What I've done is to gather the styles I've used over the past two years and work them into a 12-piece bridal collection."
Samples of the bridal gowns were now showcased in store among the standard Akira range, and could be made to order in sizes one to four. A top of the range gown was priced around $4500, reflecting the price structure of the Akira ready-to-wear collection.
The bridal collection would most likely not be stocked by department store David Jones, where ready-to-wear was the focus, he said. However, bridal gowns had unexpectedly created a profitable income stream for Akira concept stores.
"It is definitely a growing business for us. I find it fascinating actually. There's all this talk of credit crunch and doom and gloom but there's still such strong demand in this category."
Some gowns commanded three-month waiting lists due to time consuming craftsmanship including hand embroidery and hand crafted textiles, he said.
Keen to dispel any hint of traditional bridal sector retailing - "I should stress that I've never really seen myself as a typical bridalwear designer" - Isogawa said he had no plans to promote himself to the bridal market, preferring word-of-mouth referrals. He conceded the new direction did allow for fresh creative possibilities however, as did the April opening of Queensland's first Akira store, in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane.
"It's really giving us a great deal of freedom to take control and merchandise the brand the way we want to for Brisbane shoppers."
Akira retail outlets in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane were trading well, despite the downturn, Isogawa said, adding his three to five year plan was to expand his retail presence to all key Australian cities, depending on how stores traded through the downturn.