Man-tle Turned an Old Gun Shop Into a New Home for Its Japanese-Made Fashion

With a bit “careful persuading,” the founders of Perth fashion label Man-tle have found a new shop to call home. After six years in their previous tenancy, husband-and-wife Larz Harry and Aida Kim knew it was time to upgrade.

For one thing, their original spot wasn’t really a shop. “That old store was upstairs … it wasn’t really a retail space although we made it work,” Harry tells Broadsheet. “The brand deserved something a bit more dedicated.”

Man-tle’s new home is on the ground floor of a sun-drenched, heritage-listed building on the corner of William and Brisbane Street. Before becoming a retail space for the contemporary, ready-to-wear menswear and womenswear label, it housed a gun shop.

“The gentleman that owned it passed away at [around] 93 years old in 2021 and then it was left as a memorial to him by his kids,” Harry says. “Every morning we’d walk past [and think], ‘It’s such a good spot, it can’t be left like this’.”

Once Harry and Kim secured the space, the real work began. “It was really damaged,” Kim says. “It was just like a haunted house. It was a lot of work. We had to ask, ‘Are we sure? Can we do this?’ But we were sure this is the shop. We really wanted to make it beautiful.”

After getting the keys in May, the pair went through the local council and heritage board to approve their renovations. With the help of architect friend Alexei Haddad, Harry and Kim refreshed the place while keeping true to the building’s origins. “Everyone has this nostalgia for this building, and it means something to people,” Harry says. “It’s been almost the same for most people’s lives, so we didn’t want to update the outside or remove any of that character.”

Throughout the space, you’ll find colouring that’s true to the building’s history. The shop’s green door was colour-matched to the oldest layer of paint on the door, and the walls received a fresh coat of the existing butter-yellow tone.

The space has a no-frills warmth to it. The open plan with mobile shelving and curtains (that double as privacy screens and sunlight protectors) is balanced with industrial detailing, a relic from its previous life.

“It feels really welcome,” Kim says. “It is really nice locals just pass by and say hello… They are happy because it looks alive and loved once again.”

A decade in the fashion industry is no small feat for any label. Kim says Man-tle has changed a lot since the pair launched it with “just three shirts, three pants and three T-shirts”. For his part, Harry reckons “more has stayed the same than has changed,” and that Man-tle has been “pretty consistent, but it’s grown”.

The pair met working at Comme des Garçon in Tokyo. Man-tle’s unique Australian-designed, Japanese-made clothing is what sets it apart from other labels. “The Australian part influences the silhouette a lot and the colour,” Harry says. “We want the clothes to work here.”

“We are not just trying to make everything in Japan because we just want to be made-in-Japan,” says Kim. “We just know about Japan well enough, naturally.” And she ought to – Kim lived there for 13 years.

Back in 2019, Harry told Broadsheet that it was important that Man-tle’s first shop was in their home town. The pair are open about the challenges that come with being based in Perth.

“It’s getting harder and harder,” Kim says, referring to the lack of specialised support for the industry and local staffing difficulties. “We have to make it work, because we want to live here and our lifestyle is here.”

“We still like being here,” she says. “We feel isolated, which helps with designing. If you’re in a bigger city, we might design something different.”

Man-tle’s distinctive approach to fashion, which prioritises material and form first, is a byproduct of its Western Australian roots and the pair’s Japanese experience. “[Our label] feels quite different to other things that get put next to it, and that’s simply because of where we live,” Harry says.

Man-tle
460 William Street, Perth

Hours:
Mon to Sat 11am–6pm
Sun 11am–4pm

man-tle.com
@mantle_official