Sass & Bide has countered its integration into Myer's extensive store and brand portfolio with the opening of a standalone "bespoke" boutique.
Designers Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton have just opened their latest store in Sydney's historic Strand Arcade.
"The idea was to create a bespoke store that highlighted the most special Sass & Bide creations," Clarke and Middleton said.
"We've hand-picked our favourite pieces from the season and we will eventually have custom one-off pieces available exclusively at our Strand boutique."
The space has been designed by Sydney-based architect Kelvin Ho of Akin Creative.
"We wanted to create a clear focused space with no fixtures on the walls, so everything is centralised which in turn draws attention to the clothing and the centrepiece," Ho said.
That centrepiece is a "windswept plaster-wrapped tree" created by artist Adam Laerkensen. The artwork took six weeks to complete and now fills the store's ceiling space.
The Strand Arcade boutique adds to Sass & Bide's existing 15 stores across Australia and New Zealand. The label also announced on February 7 that department store Myer had acquired a 65 per cent stake in its business, with plans to roll out Sass & Bide stock to 30 Myer stores over the next 18 months.
Sass & Bide had previously been stocked by department store David Jones. The label was founded in 1999 and generated sales of approximately $37 million in 2009/10.