Aboriginal-led label Clothing the Gaps has taken Melbourne by storm. It’s hard to believe it only launched in 2020.

After some serious success online, the clothing label and social-activist platform took to Brunswick last year with a flagship store on Sydney Road. And now it’s hit another milestone, expanding its bricks-and-mortar reach to Northcote, on the lands of the Wurundjeri people.

The team ran a well-received pop-up shop at 354 High Street over Christmas, but it now has a less transient home nearby.

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“We wanted to find a really permanent spot in the City of Darebin … we love the community around the northern suburbs,” Gunditjmara woman Laura Thompson – the label’s co-founder, designer and managing director – tells Broadsheet.

Here, expect bestsellers from the Brunswick location and a full range of accessories from The Koorie Circle – Thompson’s jewellery label, which has operated out of the Northcote shopfront for the past year. Now, with the two businesses combined, you can shop pieces from Clothing the Gaps and The Koorie Circle under one roof.

For Clothing the Gaps, that means unisex streetwear including T-shirts, singlets, caps, hoodies and more. The ally-friendly Honouring Country collection, printed with impactful statements like “Tread Lightly” and “Sovereign Land”, is designed for non-Indigenous allies to wear in support of First Nations people.

The Koorie Circle sells a range of jewellery and accessories that celebrate the culture, history and identity of Aboriginal Australia. You might find dangly serpent earrings, studs with Aboriginal flags or mini boomerangs, scrunchies, tote bags and more. “[The store] still has a lot of focus on accessories, giftware and earrings,” Thompson says.

“I think the shop was already primed for a Blak business to run out of. We’re the only Blak business on the strip and that’s something the local community really loves.”

Clothing the Gaps Northcote
274 High Street, Northcote

Hours:
Wed to Fri 11am–6pm
Sat 11am–4pm
Sun 11am–3pm

clothingthegaps.com.au