Fame Agenda houses the kind of gem-laden fashion line-up that you would expect to find in a boutique nestled down a laneway rather than amid a bustling shopping center. Admittedly, being out in the open is more in keeping with the aspirations of notoriety that the store’s name suggests.

Former tax lawyer Monica Lim dreamt of a life more glamorous and one day simply made it happen, opening her first Fame Agenda boutique at Melbourne Central in late 2008. A second destination in the Docklands followed in 2010.

The store has a strong sense of self, stocking plenty of Australian (and a smattering of international) labels possessing that elusive “cool” factor. Karen Walker, Romance Was Born, Antipodium and Rittenhouse are just the tip of the iceberg; Fame Agenda’s own in-house label is the cherry on top of this stylish sundae. Lim describes her own pieces as “edgy without trying too hard, affordable but not cheap, interesting but not ugly, brave but not brash.”