On Wednesday, November 10th 2021 the AFC, in collaboration with Vicinity Centres and Afterpay, officially launched Edit Collection. The experiential retail space leveraging new technologies will host four of Australia’s top emerging brands over the next 10 months.

Bondi Born, My General Store, First Nations Fashion & Design and Esse Studios were selected for Edit Collection based on the criteria of sustainability, mindful creativity, innovation, diversity and inclusivity, as well as their ability to celebrate Australian fashion and culture.

The store launch hosted at Chatswood Chase saw industry, media and the creatives behind the brands come together to celebrate a moment that felt victorious after enduring months of restrictions and lockdowns. The brightly coloured designs from Bondi Born popped against the store's futuristic, sleek interiors designed by Sydney-based art director Kyle Jonsson.

With sustainability being a major consideration in the selection process, founder Dale McCarthy and creative director Karla Clarke of swimwear and resort label, Bondi Born, spoke to Vogue Australia on the importance of sustainability within the fashion industry and how the opening of the store marks a turning point for Australian Fashion. 

“These are crazy times, Covid has disrupted supply chains, up-ended retail businesses, and moved people’s shopping habits online. Only recently, world leaders have sat up and realised we all need to do something about climate change.”

“But I hope there is a movement towards a more considered fashion, where consumers realise that fast fashion, at ‘those’ prices, means that people and the planet are being greatly compromised in the process of their creation and the waste they create.”

The store is fitted out with hangers made from upcycled marine plastics, ocean bound plastics and post-consumer plastics supplied by Arch & Hook and brands are supported with education resources from experts in merchandise planning, SMART IN PLANNING plus human resource training from UMENCO.

Louisa Galligani from Afterpay hosted a Q&A session with Kellie Hush from the AFC, Kirsty Ghahramani from Afterpay and Corrine Barchanowicz from Vicinity Centres discussing the benefits of omni-channel retailing and embracing new technologies in physical locations.

The store debuted eTale in Australia, the developers of a Bluetooth chip tag that allows each product in store to be tracked in real time. The chips communicate with Smart Mirrors, allowing customers to browse alternative and related products, and use the gesture-controlled screens to shoot and share selfies from the fitting room. The chips immediately deliver analytics to the brand on the most engaged, most tried and most sold pieces so they can make data-driven decisions on merchandising, VM and more.

You can now shop Bondi Born in store, with the 2022 program launching with My General Store, First Nations Fashion + Design and Esse Studios.

Store Location:

Shop L131, Level 1, Chatswood Chase, 345 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood NSW 2067

Image credit: Jessica Wong from One Green Bean