New Zealand label Maggie Marilyn’s first-ever Australian store feels like an intimate dining experience

“Expect energy, vibrance and learning.”

Thoughtful New Zealand womenswear label Maggie Marilyn has finally brought its climate-positive classics to Sydney. Its first-ever Australian store – or ‘Home’, as Maggie and her team like to say – has found residence amongst Paddington’s softly weatherbeaten terrace houses on Glenmore Road. Launched in tandem with a new capsule collection, Forever 16, the Maggie Marilyn Sydney home has Australia’s sustainable fashion set abuzz.

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The vision for the fresh store was simple – an intimate dining room. “Special but not pretentious,” a recent announcement reads. “It blurs the line between formal and informal. Between dinner parties and mismatched gym socks.” Below, Maggie Marilyn’s Retail Development Manager, Georgina Rising, shares how the Sydney Home vision was brought to life.

Tell me a bit about how the vision for the Maggie Marilyn Sydney flagship store came about.

We’ve had our hearts set on Sydney since the beginning! Aside from the incredible customer base and network of friends who have supported Maggie Marilyn over the past six years [in Sydney], it’s simply a place we love spending time. Our retail Homes are centred on connection and our Sydney Home – which was envisioned as an intimate dining room – is no exception.

What was the process like putting the store together and were there any challenges or roadblocks along the way?

Beyond the creative side of bringing our Home concept to life, there’s a huge operational process behind the scenes – from inventory planning and allocation to operating systems, visual merchandising, recruitment and training!

[With us] not being in the country geographically, opening the store was our challenge. From logistics of getting our vintage table from Melbourne to Sydney, deciding on paint colour and shooting our Forever 16 capsule campaign all at the same time, [it was difficult].

It’s safe to say there were a lot of FaceTimes with the incredible team we were working with. From start to finish, we were so fortunate to have people we trust on the ground ahead of our team arriving a week before opening.

Who did Maggie Marilyn collaborate with on this project?

Engaging Alexandra Ponting from AP Design House was an exciting collaboration. She really leaned into our values when bringing our vision for an intimate dining room to life. [She sourced] exclusively vintage pieces for both the interior and exterior of the Home. [We wanted to take] a less is more approach; investing once and well.

I know Maggie Marilyn values the intimate, offline customer experience. With this in mind, what can we expect from the in-store experience?

Expect energy, vibrance and learning! We call our team changemakers for a reason. We love to share our knowledge so our guests can walk away knowing something a little more than when they came in.

Within our Homes, we love to host. Watch this space for spontaneous evening negronis (our favourite), Sunday afternoon tea and many more surprises and delights.

What’s your favourite feature/area of the store?

Our beautiful courtyard is a highlight. It’s a perfect mini escape from the hustle and bustle on Glenmore Road and the best way to start the morning – sitting in the sunshine with a hot coffee.

Also, the incredible Borsani dining table is a favourite feature of mine, it anchors the space and really solidifies that feeling of being at Home.

Are there any plans for a Melbourne store anytime soon?

Having lived in Melbourne for four years, I have a soft spot for [the city] – so absolutely watch this space. We’d be thrilled to bring the Maggie Marilyn experience to our Melbourne community. Even a pop-up concept is something we’ve done in Wanaka [in] New Zealand. [It’s] something we’d love to replicate overseas in the coming year!