AAA<\/p>\n
Caitlin Stewart has been a personal stylist for more than 20 years. Most of her clientele are professional women looking to fill their wardrobe with versatile, polished pieces that work just as well in a boardroom meeting as they do on the weekend with a pair of slick jeans.<\/p>\n
Lately, she\u2019s been hearing many of them say the same thing: \u201cI used to know exactly where to shop, but now I don\u2019t know where to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a significant group of established professional women who feel caught between very youthful fashion, activewear, generic casual clothing and expensive designer labels,\u201d says Stewart. \u201cTo me, this is a real gap.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shoppers have never had better access to a diverse universe of options across which to spread their attention and their dollars. At any hour of the day, from bed, on the train, or at work, we are buying things from all around the world.<\/p>\n
Even as the nation buys $11.6 billion of fashion and apparel online, according to Australia Post\u2019s latest e-commerce report<\/a>, stiff competition has delivered a changing of the guard in our shopping strips as stalwarts pull up stumps, leaving many shoppers adrift.<\/p>\n Cue and Veronika Maine\u2019s descent<\/a> into administration and receivership last month signalled that two titans of corporate womenswear had passed their heyday<\/a>, joining a burgeoning list of well-known fashion retailers or brands that no longer exist in their original form.<\/p>\n Every end of the market has been bruised, from runway designers Alice McCall<\/a> and Dion Lee<\/a> to Mosaic Brands<\/a>, which operated budget retailers Katies, Rivers, Noni B, Millers and others before collapsing, resulting in nearly 3000 jobs lost<\/a> and over 700 stores shut.<\/p>\n Other brands (Alannah Hill, Gorman) have suffered after founders divorced their businesses. And private equity hasn\u2019t always been a saviour either; Seafolly, once Australia\u2019s most successful swimwear brand, collapsed soon after COVID struck. It was then rescued by LVMH-backed private equity firm L Catterton, but subsequently sold in 2023 to a private investment group.<\/p>\n Boho label Tigerlily collapsed twice, first in 2020<\/a>, and then a second time before it was acquired by rival Seafolly in 2024. Jeanswest, which opened in Perth in 1972 and had nearly 150 stores at one point, was sold to a Hong Kong company in 2020, shut all stores in early 2025<\/a>, and has been caught posting \u2018AI slop\u2019 ads<\/a>.<\/p>\n Related Article Strained household budgets have shifted people towards affordable alternatives or splurging on investment pieces. Even the luxury market, usually fairly resilient to economic downturns, has not been immune; luxury department store Harrolds collapsed in 2024 with debts of more than $16 million. \u201cBig logo\u201d brands Chanel, Tiffany & Co and Giorgio Armani\u2019s sales have declined in Australia, as younger, aspirational shoppers find and flaunt street cred by scouring vintage marketplaces<\/a> and second-hand resellers like Depop and Vinted.<\/p>\n Pushing customers towards the ultra-budget end of the spectrum are overseas juggernauts Shein and Temu, which have captured a combined 8 million Australian shoppers<\/a> by generating thousands of new outfits a day through artificial intelligence-powered, trend-identifying algorithms.<\/p>\n For designer labels, boutique chain Incu has become a destination for younger shoppers<\/a> hunting the latest drops from the likes of A.P.C., Maison Kitsune and Maison Margiela.<\/p>\n Is the middle market really dead?<\/p>\n It\u2019s a common refrain in the retail industry to hear \u201cthe middle market is dead\u201d, but some industry experts don\u2019t think this take is nuanced enough.<\/p>\n Holding up mid-market fashion are major chains Zara, Cotton On, Kmart and Uniqlo, which has become a wardrobe staple<\/a> for its high-quality but affordable minimalist everyday essentials.<\/p>\n \u201cThe generic middle is in trouble,\u201d says Stewart. \u201cIt has become a much harder place to be undifferentiated,\u201d says fashion consultant and strategist Elizabeth Formosa.<\/p>\n The evolution of Australia\u2019s fashion industry isn\u2019t about old versus new brands, she argues; it\u2019s about brands that have and haven\u2019t kept up. Formosa points to Zimmermann and Scanlan Theodore as examples of brands that have been around for decades and are still building a global reputation.<\/p>\n Fashion businesses, inherently transient and linked to trends, can be remarkably adept at projecting an image of success while masking a very different reality.<\/p>\n \u201cRevenue, visibility and desirability don\u2019t necessarily equal a healthy business. You still need the fundamentals underneath it \u2013 margin, inventory productivity, cash flow, channel profitability, disciplined buying, effective marketing investment and a clear strategy for profitable growth,\u201d Formosa says.<\/p>\n Operating costs (fuel and transport, electricity, wages, manufacturing) have soared. Retailers, old and new, tied to expensive store leases \u2013 134-year-old shoe brand Betts<\/a> and luxury activewear brand Stax<\/a> among them \u2013 can find those overheads to be a noose around their necks.<\/p>\n \u201cWith leasing costs, you\u2019re committed for a period of time. It\u2019s not easy just to turn off that fixed-cost element of retail, particularly when you\u2019ve opened a lot of stores,\u201d says KPMG restructuring and insolvency leader Gayle Dickerson.<\/p>\n And having a brilliant designer at the helm doesn\u2019t necessarily translate to a commercially sound business.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be really, really tight on discipline and spend controls and have that capability. And I think that\u2019s harder in some of those smaller fashion businesses,\u201d Dickerson says. \u201cI do generally think that it is really important that you have someone there to challenge the amazing creative-led founder who wants to do all these at once.\u201d<\/p>\n Owning the brand<\/p>\n While mounting overheads create the financial pressure, says Stewart, it\u2019s losing sight of your customer that can force a business to buckle. There is a line from a university lecturer from Stewart\u2019s time studying styling in Milan that has stuck with her: fashion comes from the streets and from the people.<\/p>\n \u201cThe brands that connect with customers pay attention to how people actually want to dress, and listen to their customers while staying true to their own point of view,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cThe Australian woman hasn\u2019t lost interest in fashion. She has become less loyal to brands that no longer understand her, and she now has far more places to go when they don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Department stores around the globe are being forced to rethink their business models, while facing greater pressure to reinvest in the store and customer experience. David Jones<\/a> and Myer<\/a>, both unprofitable businesses, have each reduced store footprints over the years and are fighting over the best brands<\/a> to bring customers through the door.<\/p>\n The financial struggles of once-prevalent youth streetwear retailers General Pants and Glue Store have been existential. General Pants\u2019 losses are in the tens of millions, and it is relying on cash injections<\/a> to stay afloat, while Glue, which permanently closed its stores and online operation in June, is plotting a comeback under new ownership.<\/p>\n \u201cMulti-brand retailers in the middle are absolutely copping it from both sides,\u201d says retail consultant Trent Rigby. \u201cThe only way to win is to own your brands.\u201d<\/p>\n Marcs, David Lawrence and Sass & Bide are among some labels Myer has collected but struggled to turn around, shutting dozens of underperforming stores at recently acquired mid-range labels Portmans and Jacqui E, where sales are rapidly declining.<\/p>\n Brands that once needed retailers to stock their products are now bypassing bricks and mortar altogether to sell directly to consumers online. Since joining Myer, chief executive Olivia Wirth has been vocal about her vision of being a house of brands coveted by younger shoppers, to some early signs of success: sales in the women\u2019s youth category nearly doubled in the 2026 financial year, with Wirth calling out Topshop, Gap and Lioness as top performers in this category.<\/p>\n Lioness, founded in Sydney in 2009, began as an online store, and now wholesales to major domestic and international e-commerce platforms.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a very strong brand, but it\u2019s the commercial discipline behind it that has allowed us to sustain that growth and scale,\u201d says managing director Wendy Lin.<\/p>\n Rather than growing for growth\u2019s sake, Lin has learnt to stay focused on the quality of sales. \u201cYou can grow revenue while losing margin, carry too much inventory or make wholesale sales on bad terms,\u201d she says. \u201cMaintaining margin as we scale is more important than growing the top line.\u201d<\/p>\n Following every trend and trying to be everything to everyone is a sure-fire way to erode a brand\u2019s identity. Having a team that can respond to the market quickly without being locked into decisions made months prior is crucial, says Lin.<\/p>\n Sometimes, Lioness is ahead of the trends; other times, it gets it wrong. \u201cWe\u2019re not precious about our planning.\u201d<\/p>\n Selling to \u2018digital natives\u2019<\/p>\n Global trend cycles are moving faster than they ever have before, and department store executives are at pains to stock in-demand labels at the forefront of those trends.<\/p>\n \u201cIt takes a much shorter period of time for a trend to be on the runway, including high-end fashion, and then to make it to the high street,\u201d says Wirth.<\/p>\n Social media and e-commerce have rewired how retailers need to reach customers. Digital natives (Gen Alpha, Gen Z, Millennials) are much more willing to try new brands and products \u2013 but often don\u2019t stick around.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very easy to get them through the door. The problem is, they\u2019re just not loyal,\u201d says Rigby. Speed is also of the essence, with Amazon and The Iconic setting expectations for delivery times that are now same-day or one-hour windows. Personality-driven marketing is also shifting away from A-list celebrities to micro-influencers.<\/p>\n The reverse tends to be true for older generations, or \u201cdigital immigrants\u201d, who are more difficult to coax into trying a new brand, but are harder to lose, Rigby adds.<\/p>\n But Baby Boomers are the generation with the money to spend on higher-quality and more sustainable clothing.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause they\u2019re one of the hardest-hit around cost of living, Gen Z are openly seeking and even flaunting fashion dupes. We find [with] Baby Boomers there\u2019s more stigma around not buying the real thing,\u201d says Rigby.<\/p>\n Renewal, reinvention, and ascension<\/p>\n Resetting brand direction is fraught with risk, and executed to varying degrees of success. Witchery, which has more than 100 stores and is facing the same slowdown in workwear as Cue, unveiled its youthful rebranding in mid-2024 <\/a>featuring trend-driven designs \u2013 bubble skirts, oversized jackets \u2013 that alienated many existing customers.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cThe problem was that this established woman had been Witchery\u2019s main customer, and the brand appeared to stop designing for her. It was targeting one woman aesthetically and another woman financially,\u201d says Stewart.<\/p>\n \u201cReinvention is important, but it should bring your loyal customer forward with you, not make her feel that she has been replaced.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/df812dd3e71930fe21bb6a21aa16f40920543fda.jpeg\")
The Cue store at the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney.Oscar Colman<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/8579506fe02f90ec9284b5e07c6a27c017643c14.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Betts\u2019](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/5a828ba1dc511802f4acff62062a46a0fab17723.jpeg\")
Betts\u2019 administrators announced in July it would close 20 of its remaining 35 stores.Janie Barrett<\/p>\n![\"Models](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/f149b39261634c6da671ea2750c4303ecb06ad02.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Myer](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/8addb2006063211b64ce9c48c098113477d0cd33.jpeg\")
Myer needs coveted brands to bring customers into stores.Oscar Colman<\/p>\n![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/3ccac8000fa5e0267e4e83bc1ac777976403fe0a.jpeg\")
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![\"White](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/da8f98df42cbc048403e595e3a40a63e3a9149be.jpeg\")
White Fox advertisements, and the apathetic expression of its models, have become a familiar sight in New York, Los Angeles, and London as well as Sydney and Melbourne.Louie Douvis<\/p>\n