Store openings, brand closures: A recap of local fashion news this month
IMAGE VIA @loveisabellejewellery/INSTAGRAM
WORDS BY DAISY HENRY
The lowdown.
Anyone local to Australia’s south-east cities will know the temperature has been a challenge to keep up with this past month. Just as we’ve pulled our winter knits out of storage, the days warmed, replacing grey skies with almost too-hot temperatures. It’s felt a little like whiplash.
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Likewise, the local fashion landscape has seen a similar change. There have been several store openings, with labels planting roots in Melbourne or expanding their offering to the city’s southside. At the other end, April also saw closures from two veteran Australian and New Zealand brands. Read below to catch up on the comings and goings of the past month.
Friends with Frank opens its second shopfront
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Australian-born label, Friends with Frank, spent April preparing for the opening of its second brick-and-mortar boutique. Marking its second collaboration was interior designer Georgina Jeffries, the new space is located in High Street, Armadale, nestled in among other stores, including Venroy, St. Agni and Bassike.
Love Isabelle opens its first Melbourne flagship
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This marks the third retail store for jewellery label Love Isabelle. With boutiques in Bondi and Byron Bay, the brand journeyed down to Melbourne to unveil its new space on Armadale’s High Street. Having teamed up with Sydney studio Coffey Hallett for the fit-out, the space is filled with floral accents, chrome details and soft wood interiors.
After a decade, Wynn Hamlyn is ceasing operation
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Earlier this month, New Zealand fashion label Wynn Hamlyn announced it was “pressing pause” after 10 years in business. “Spring Summer 2026 will be our final collection – for now,” founder Wynn Cranshaw said, explaining he was going to take a step back to reconsider what could come next.
As reported in The Australian Financial Review, the brand is battling the collapse of significant international wholesalers, alongside industry-wide challenges.
Goodbyes closes its Adelaide store
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This month, consignment store Goodbyes announced it was closing the doors on its Adelaide store, its only South Australian outpost. In an email sent out to subscribers, co-founders Olivia Mangan and Monique Thomas cited rising costs and slow growth for the reasons behind the closure.
Alethiea and Phos closed after 13 years
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Earlier this month, Fashion Journal sat down with Australian designer and founder Lissy Millan after she announced the closure of her jewellery label, Aletheia and Phos. After 13 years of building the brand from scratch, the announcement came after the closure of the brand’s Fitzroy boutique in October last year.
“My job and my brand doesn’t define me. I am very honoured that so many people have connected with my work over the years, and I’m ready for that to be another story I can look back on with a lot of gratitude,” Lissy said.
Boss is officially outfitting AO
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Tennis and fashion fans unite. Just this month, Boss was announced as the Official Lifestyle Outfitter of the Australian Open 2027. This means the brand will be tasked with dressing 4,000 staff, officials, umpires and ball kids in specially-designed AO uniforms,
Uniqlo x Needles launch
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Towards the end of April, Uniqlo unveiled its limited-edition capsule collection with Japanese label Needles. The collection, which is available in store and online, features a fleece jacket, cardigan and wide-leg pants.
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