In 15 years, Sydney’s Above the Clouds has built a loyal following of fans who flock to its online and Surry Hills store for a slice of what’s hot. Now, the fashion, accessories and footwear boutique has expanded and opened its first interstate store. On Melbourne’s Collins Street, Above the Clouds has found a sleek two-storey building to call home.

Its mission has always remained the same: to bring the world’s most fashion-forward labels to Australia. That means pulling from conglomerates like Nike and Adidas, outdoor and performance brands like Gramicci and Saucony, sportswear labels like Casablanca and Pleasures, and contemporary ready-to-wear lines like A Kind of Guise and Sunflower.

If some of these names go over your head, that’s kind of the point. Above the Clouds has become known for being able to source brands from all over.

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Co-founders Dimitri Calligeros and John Paul Wager say this move to Melbourne felt simultaneously both instinctive and inevitable. The last 18 months have seen a growth in Above the Clouds’ Melbourne customer base, both online and as visitors to their Sydney flagship. “It just felt natural to move to Melbourne,” Calligeros tells Broadsheet.

The inter-city sibling stores are just that: siblings, not twins. Wager says the Melbourne store is “similar but strikingly different” to its Sydney base. “We really wanted to make sure that we didn’t create a carbon copy,” he says. “We wanted it to have its own personality and respond to the footprint of the space that we were taking over in the CBD.”

So what does that look like in practice? The pair worked with Byron Bay-based interior design studio Pattern Studio and Melbourne-based custom fit-out specialists EMAC for the build; the same teams used for its New South Wales store.

The Melbourne store’s open plan and floor-to-ceiling windows are nicely complemented by generous lashings of sorbet-like colours throughout the space. It’s playful while exercising restraint.

Juxtaposition is a big focus too. The space’s industrial feel is both heightened and challenged. Aluminium and chrome finishes, as well as light fittings such as Flos’s Parentesi suspension lamp and Marset’s Fragile table lamp, emphasise modernity. Pale wood veneer and moss-like carpet offset any expected coldness.

It’s impossible to miss the store’s ice-blue, colosseum-inspired footwear display, its open, circular centrepiece showing dozens of sneaker styles. Wager shares that its striking blue hue is a subtle nod to the point-of-sale desk that sits in the Sydney store.

Calligeros is particularly fond of the striking staircase and eyewear cabinet in the shop, too. As Above the Clouds’ buying director, he’s excited by the difference in climate between the two stores’ cities. “We can have a little bit more of an emphasis on outerwear, layering pieces [and] knitwear,” he says.

“We do not want to have a cookie-cutter approach where you have the same experience shopping in Sydney and Melbourne. As new deliveries start to come, there will be some Melbourne exclusives and some Sydney exclusives.”

Regardless of where you’re shopping, Calligeros wants to maintain an aura of unexpectedness when it comes to Above the Clouds. “I think the element of surprise and a mix of high price points and low price points is very important. Although the business is growing and we’re getting access to better brands, we definitely don’t want to lose that curation element and we also don’t want to lose the fun element of the buy as well.”

Above the Clouds
Shop T0.07/80 Collins St, Melbourne

Opening Hours
Sat to Wed 10am–6pm
Thurs & Fri 10am–7pm
Sun 10am–5pm

abovethecloudsstore.com
@abovethecloudsstore