What's Selling In: North Melbourne, VIC
These days fashion retailers have to find good, solid arguments to persuade customers to fork out their money.
As stores in North Melbourne demonstrate, these can either be of a practical or psychological nature: "We are currently in a trans-seasonal phase. This time of the year you never know what the weather will be like, so I have ordered some nice lightweight coats and they are selling really well," says Stephanie Vella, owner of Meek & Folly Clothing, which stocks brands such as Grab, Ladakh, Seduce, Cooper St, Billion Dollar Babes, Wish, Very Very, Minkpink and Truese.
By contrast, it's that psychological pull that makes the cash tills ring at another North Melbourne boutique Kids in Berlin.
"At the moment guys are crazy about the new Australian designer label Book Club. Their dark blue jeans with slim straight legs and press-studs are selling like hotcakes. They retail for $240 and each pair comes with a unique vintage paperback book in the back pocket," confirms a shop assistant at the suburb's latest go-to.
With brands such as Book Club, Artechoke, Chip Chop, Bul, Claude Maus, Fool, Flux, Hamb, Lenko, Limedrop, Love, Maru, Pigeon Combine, Who Am Eye and Young Lovers on offer, Kids in Berlin caters for men, women and children and is on the forefront of emerging fashion-forward design in a suburb that has become increasingly popular in recent years.
With a strong working class background with nearly half the area still taken up by factories, North Melbourne has a unique charm. More and more people are discovering its distinct atmosphere, a fact that has seen house prices inflate to more than 30 per cent above Melbourne's mean.
The new North Melbournians enjoy the immediate vicinity of the CBD and the dynamics of a suburb on the move. With shopping and coffee strips such as Errol Street and arts centres such as the North Melbourne Town Hall, the area has several popular meeting places and a strong sense of community.
"What I get a lot from visitors is that North Melbourne reminds them of a small country town. That is spot on. We have the advantages of big city and country living in one place", says Stephanie Vella, clearly happy about the key position her business now occupies. She freely admits that the only thing she needs right now is some lovely cold weather to make the upcoming winter collections a hit.
LOWDOWN
Location: 2 km north-west of Melbourne CBD
Population: 9,962 (Census 2006)
Brands: Book Club, Artechoke, Chip Chop, Bul, Claude Maus, Fool, Flux, Hamb, Lenko, Limedrop, Love, Maru, Pigeon Combine, Who Am Eye, Young Lovers, Grab, Ladakh, Seduce, Cooper St, Billion Dollar Babes, Wish, Very Very, Minkpink, Truese