Local labels Tom Gunn and Rebecca Manning have entered into a partnership to boost brand awareness over the summer.
The brands, which sell footwear and swimwear respectively, will merge into one store for the next few months in an effort to cut costs and increase brand awareness.
The shared store, located in Brisbane's James Street shopping precinct, was originally opened by Rebecca Manning as a swimwear store in late 2010. As Manning's collections are seasonal based, there was room for a new designer to use the space over the winter season and Tom Gunn took up the opportunity to launch a pop-up shop.
Following the pop-up's success, and rather than have Manning move back in and Tom Gunn move out as initially arranged, the brands settled on a share agreement.
The James Street store is now a mix of Manning's bikinis, silk maxis and kaftans teamed with Tom Gunn footwear, which includes strappy heels, flats and ballet flats. Price points for both labels range from $199 to $450.
According to Tom Gunn co-designer Gabrielle Thompson, the collaboration, which is the first of this kind for both parties, has worked.
“We have already experienced greater brand awareness through exposure to a new customer base from Rebecca Manning. And it has dramatically changed the look of the store by making it a new colourful space which has been bringing in customers,” she said.
“The benefits of sharing the store in terms of the costs are also fantastic with costs being effectively halved for the term that we share the store.”
However, despite the shared space, the brands are keeping their operations separate and looking to future growth once the summer season is over.
“Even though we are sharing the space the brands are kept separate in terms of operations,” Thompson said.
“We will share the space until the winter months return and Rebecca Manning will move out for the season while Tom Gunn will stay on in the space for winter. However, we also are focusing on the Australian retail market and have a few developments we are working towards.”
For more on what's next for Tom Gunn on the retail front pick up a copy of Ragtrader November 18.