New Digs: Melbourne’s Best New Store Openings

Shopping is best when it’s a sensory experience; we want to touch, smell and wear garments before committing them to our wardrobe. A slew of beloved labels agree, opening up new stores ahead of the holiday rush. These are some of our favourite recent Melbourne store openings.

P Johnson Armadale

Leopard-print floors, sculptural lighting, Maison Jansen chairs, a hand-sourced lamp from Paris – P Johnson pulled out all the stops for its new Armadale store. The two-storey Victorian-era location features its first dedicated womenswear floor, with its menswear offerings huddled upstairs. “Decadent and confident” is how the store’s interior designer Tamsin Johnson (the wife of founder, Patrick Johnson) described the space to Broadsheet. Located on Armadale’s bustling High Street, it’s a place to get lost in.

Location:
1082 High Street, Armadale

Hours:
Mon to Sat, 9:30am–5:30pm
Sun, 10am–5pm

SUKU Home Collingwood

Bedding, homewares and apparel label SUKU Home has moved into Collingwood. The Melbourne label’s bright and bold bamboo garments and bedwear have been inspired by SUKU Home’s creative director and founder Christine Lafian’s Indonesian upbringing. Its new showroom is designed by Jakarta-based interior designer Ariel Natasha from Objektif Lab. It features cream padded textures and a statement curved wood counter. The effect is a cocoon-like sanctuary. “We wanted to create something entirely new, and we think we’ve nailed it,” Lafian says of its showroom-only mode.

Location:
82 Wellington Street, Collingwood

Hours:
Mon: By appointment
Thu to Sat: 11am–5pm

Best Jumpers Prahran

Best Jumpers has made the jump south-side, adding Prahran to its location list. The winner of last year's National Designer Award has fitted out a sleek, light-filled storefront in Prahran’s Hawksburn Village with its unisex garments and accessories. Stainless steel shelving, wooden furnishings and a mirrored wall were details designed by founder Dylan Best, in collaboration with interior designer Marina Pappas.

Location:
540A Malvern Road, Prahran

Hours:
Tue to Sat, 10am–5pm

Song For The Mute Russell Place

Song For The Mute has opened up shop in Melbourne, a first in its 14 years. The Sydney label was founded by childhood friends Melvin Tanaya and Lyna Ty and has flourished as a contemporary, avant-garde menswear and womenswear label. High ceilings, soft lighting and wooden fixtures elevate the industrial space that’s nestled in the CBD. The Melbourne concept store was designed by William Hickman and produced by Chair Boi, with plants supplied by Hattie Molloy.

Location:
20 Russell Place, Melbourne

Hours:
Mon to Sat 11am–7pm
Sun 12pm–6pm

MCM House Armadale

For the last 14 years, MCM House has been creating premium indoor and outdoor furniture reflective of Australia’s laidback aesthetic and way of living. Founder Charles Hinckfuss says the new space's pared-back colour palette with a California edge, inspired by the 1980 crime drama American Gigolo, is true to MCM House’s minimalistic style. A welcome addition to the bustle of High Street.

Location:
1066–1076 High Street, Armadale

Hours:
Mon to Fri: 9:30am–5pm
Sat & Sun: 10am–4pm

Salomon Chadstone

The sports lifestyle brand you’re spotting everywhere, Salomon will be opening its first Australian store in Chadstone Shopping Centre this week. Seen simultaneously on the feet of nature hikers and north-side natural wine sippers, Salomon has cemented its place here as the sneaker brand of the moment. “Over the past three years the demand for the Salomon brand in Australia has increase dramatically,” Graeme Moore, Salomon’s brand head says. Its first store (though there are plans to open more) was designed to conceptually reflect Salomon’s Paris Champs-Élysées flagship store. Its sleek, bright interiors bring a futuristic look to the forefront, while a locally sourced timber tree is the centrepiece of the space.

Location:
Chadstone Shopping Centre, Shop B-319/1341 Dandenong Rd, Chadstone

Hours:
Mon to Wed 9am–5:30pm
Thu to Sat 9am–9pm
Sun 10am–7pm

HARA Pop-Up

HARA is the local label vying for a spot in your intimates drawer. Its lyocell-bamboo pieces, coloured using low-impact reactive dyes, are soft and breathable. Visit the label’s three-day pop-up in Melbourne to see for yourself. Pop by for welcome drinks and nibbles from 4pm–6pm on the Friday.

Location:
181 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

Hours:
Fri November 29, 11am–7pm
Sat November 30, 10am–6pm
Sun December 1, 10am–4pm

Elka Collective Armadale

Aside from celebrating 10 years in business, Elka Collective is busy opening up its flagship store in Armadale. In the last year alone, the womenswear label has opened up a handful of new stores in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. “Our stores have really helped us shape the collection for our customers. We can get feedback on what they’re wearing and where,” creative director Courtney Price previously told Broadsheet. The soon-to-be-opened flagship store, situated in the hub of High Street, will continue to build on its foundation of minimalist, elevated staples. Your workwear wardrobe will be better for it.

Location:
1045 High Street, Armadale

Hours:
Daily, 10am–5pm

Karlaidlaw Fitzroy

You wouldn’t have guessed that Karlaidlaw’s newest outpost was a real estate space just a month ago. The five-year-old Melbourne streetwear label constructs sensual and evocative pieces and has expanded from its North Melbourne location to a second store on Fitzroy’s Smith Street. Oversized rock formations and mirrored change rooms inject a fresh, space-age feel into the store, a fitting backdrop for Karlaidlaw’s experimental garments.

Location:
287 Smith Street, Fitzroy

Hours:
Mon to Sat, 11am–5pm
Sun, 12pm–5pm

Mud Albert Park

We’re no strangers to Mud’s porcelain homeware pieces; after 30 years, the Sydney-based brand has a dozen stores under its belt. For this upcoming summer and autumn period, Mud will open the doors at an Albert Park pop-up. Its extensive porcelain collections, available in 19 colours, will all be available at the new storefront. Designed in collaboration with Design Office, the space will see repurposed furniture and materials from previous store locations being reused.

Location:
150 Bridport Street, Albert Park

Hours:
Mon to Sat, 9:30am–5:30pm
Sun, 10am–5pm

Mihan Aromatics Prahran

Melbourne-based unisex fragrance brand Mihan Aromatics has opened its first brick-and-mortar store. All its perfumes are hand-poured in Australia using high-quality, local, cruelty-free and vegan ingredients. Since its launch in 2017, Mihan Aromatics has been championing Australian, low-impact ingredients, like organic sugarcane and Kakadu plum seed oil. Now, you can get a whiff of the entire range for yourself.

Location:
203 Chapel St, Prahran

Hours:
Mon to Fri, 10am–7pm
Sat, 10am–4pm

This article was updated to include new openings.