Australian fashion retail’s best and brightest came together at The Promenade in Melbourne’s Docklands to celebrate the biggest achievements and milestones across the country’s $28 billion fashion industry over the past year.
Style Arcade CEO and co-founder, Michaela Wessels, hosted several retail leaders at the Ragtrader Australian Fashion Industry Awards to recognise the brands making a mark in Australian fashion, including Style Arcade customers, David Jones, The Iconic, Carla Zampatti, Decjuba, and Saba, and many others.
“The creative energy was high, and the appreciation for the industry and genuine celebration of the winners were really great to see,” said Michaela.
“It was a fantastic reminder of the talent, passion and hard work that goes into making Australian fashion such a vibrant and exciting industry. There was a real sense of pride in what the industry has achieved, and it was wonderful to see the people who have made that possible,” she said.
The Hall of Fame belonged to Founder, Owner and Creative Chair of Decjuba, Tania Austin, who over three decades she has helped build two of the country's most recognisable brands. First as a co-owner of the Cotton On Group, before going on to acquire Decjuba in 2008 when it was a five-store business. From that foundation, she grew Decjuba into one of Australia's leading fashion retailers, now spanning more than 170 locations across Australia and New Zealand, a global e-commerce presence and a team of over 1,400.
Style Arcade customers Saba, Camilla and Sheike, as well as Style Arcade’s guests Country Road, also made a significant impact within the Australian retail and apparel industry this year, all winning awards across the categories.
Marketing Campaign of the Year:
Saba – 60 Years
Saba turned 60 this year, bringing founder Joe Saba back into the story for the first time since he sold the business in 2002. The campaign’s results delivered across trade, consumer and mainstream press: 17 placements, $201,557 in ad value and 84.6 million audience reach. Email open rates hit 57% against a 48% baseline, and organic reach climbed to 4.2 million combined views.
Design Excellence Award and Industry Collaboration Award:
Camilla – The Met x CAMILLA
The Metropolitan Museum of Art x CAMILLA collaboration generated $2.1 million in sales and 2,361 units sold over six weeks to become the most successful Camilla collaboration to date. Supported by activations in Australia and New York, it delivered more than 560 social placements and 22 media placements with total reach approaching 70 million.
Team of the Year and Gamechanger Award:
Sheike – Digital Team, Sheike Society
Sheike's Digital Team operates as a single connected function spanning Ecommerce and Digital Marketing, CRM, Customer Care and IT, working from a shared customer-first philosophy rather than in silos. Within nine months of their member program launch, they more than doubled their 12-month acquisition target, reaching over 231,000 members. Loyalty members now contribute 53% of total business revenue and demonstrate 45% higher purchase frequency, 17% higher average order value and 95% higher lifetime value than non-members.
Best Store Design:
Country Road – Brisbane CBD
Located within a prominent CBD heritage building formerly home to the Bank of New South Wales, Country Road Brisbane weaves past and present into a single luxury retail experience. Visits to the store increased by more than 25% compared with Country Road's previous Brisbane location, and sales conversion rates have doubled.
Congratulations to all the finalists and winners. View the full list here.
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