Melbourne’s Top Floor Gallery is a Y2K pre-loved wonderland
IMAGE VIA @topfloor.gallery/INSTAGRAM
WORDS BY DAISY HENRY
“Seeing people with such different personal styles come through our doors also gives us a lot of inspiration when it comes to curating our products and brands.”
Nestled in Collingwood, Top Floor Gallery is a concept store known for its curated selection of pre-loved designer fashion and streetwear. In 2019, founder Ricky Benson began sourcing vintage clothing at local markets and op shops and selling them on resale platforms online.
Having noticed a lack of brick and mortar stores in Australia that offered high-end styles akin to those in Japan, France and Germany, Ricky decided to turn his side-hustle into a fully fledged business.”I wanted to make this available to the Australian market, while still offering these products and brands at fair price points,” he says.
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In early 2022, Ricky came across an ideal first-story space in Collingwood and with the help and guidance of Millie Ng and Harrison Wallace, the owners of Melbourne label Purgatory, he was able to open the shopfront within two and a half months. Top Floor Gallery has since undergone another renovation (known as ‘Top Floor 2.0’) and now features custom clothing racks, a new mannequin display and a front-hanging installation.
Whether you’re after oversized Balenciaga sunglasses, monogrammed silk scarves or iconic Y2K designer handbags, Top Floor Gallery has a collection you’ll struggle to find anywhere else.
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Tell me a bit about how the vision for Top Floor Gallery came about.
The idea for Top Floor Gallery was inspired by the desire to offer a unique selection of pre-loved and vintage items from designer and high-end streetwear labels at fair and honest prices. Before starting Top Floor Gallery, I was selling vintage clothing (purchased at markets and op shops) for a couple of years. In 2019, I began to source a handful of products from designer and streetwear labels that were not commonly available in Australia.
This is where I noticed a big gap in the Australian market for these brands and products, with a demand that was not being met by both online and brick-and-mortar stores. In countries such as the UK, Japan, France and Germany, there are options for customers looking for pre-loved designer and curated streetwear. I wanted to make this available locally, while still offering these products and brands at fair price points.
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How would you describe the store’s aesthetic?
The store’s aesthetic is a crossover and fusion between modern industrial and natural materials. Picture concrete, steel and chrome, combined with plants, lighter colours and timber. We have aimed to create a refined, premium aesthetic that aligns with the products we offer, yet balancing that to give a warm, welcoming and exciting feeling from the moment you walk in.
What was the process like putting the store together?
Putting the store together was a lot of work but very rewarding once it all came together, however being on the first level posed challenges when it came to heavy and oversized fixtures.
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Who did you collaborate with when bringing the Top Floor Gallery to life?
I met the owners of the clothing brand Purgatory back in 2021 during Top Floor Gallery’s six-week pop-up store and we stayed in contact since then. In early 2022, when I found this space in Collingwood, I reached out to Purgatory with the idea of occupying a section of the store for their products. We spent approximately two and a half months putting the store together before opening up to the public. I will be forever grateful for all of Purgatory’s help – including their physical labour, interior design, creativity, ideas and advice.
We underwent a renovation in late 2023, where my amazing team got their hands dirty and helped with creating the renovated ‘Top Floor 2.0’. This was a super hectic one to two weeks as we scrambled to get everything finished as soon as we could, in order to open back up to the public. We now have a more elevated space that better showcases our selection of pre-loved designer and curated streetwear.
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What’s your favourite feature of Top Floor Gallery?
I don’t think I can pick just one! A few of my favourite features of the store would be our custom clothing racks, our front hanging display, the mannequin display and the silver plinth block.
What do you like about the area and the Melbourne creative scene in general?
I really like seeing the diversity in Melbourne when it comes to fashion and style. We see customers of all different aesthetics come into the store daily, especially with our very broad customer base and demographic. Seeing people with such different personal styles come through our doors also gives us a lot of inspiration when it comes to curating our products and brands.
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As for the creative scene, it’s a small world. It’s cool to see how everyone seems to be connected, acquainted, or familiar in one way or another with each other, whether it be fashion, music, videography, modelling, styling or content creation.
Find more from Top Floor Gallery here.
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