Steele designer Jess Reid's global, Melbourne-based fashion label is leading the rejuvenation of boutique shopping

The curse of COVID has impacted many of Melbourne’s favourite shopping strips with rather unfashionable “For Lease” signs now the window dressing du jour as our favourite brands retreat online. 

However, one savvy fashionista is boldly bucking the trend.

Luxury Melbourne-born label Steele, whose floaty and feminine designs are now sold globally, is shifting its focus away from the online space that’s built its success and instead investing in a flagship bricks-and-mortar boutique and the label’s founder Jessica Reid has snapped up one of Melbourne’s most sought-after locations. 

Steele will be the first retail tenant in the redeveloped Toolangi building, a heritage-listed mansion in the heart of Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn.

“I admit it’s a strange timing to go into retail,” Reid laughs, “I’ve been chasing the digital space hard for the last few years and I never felt a retail store was where I wanted to be but when COVID hit it made me reassess.”

“During the lockdowns, I really missed the personal connection, it gave me time to think about the brand and its future, we don’t want to be just an invisible digital space, we really want to connect with our customers and offer them a unique experience and when the opportunity to take this space came up, it all just happened organically. It was meant to be. We are so excited to open the doors and welcome people in.”

Steele was founded in 2010 after Jessica Reid had established her name in fashion as a buyer for cult brands like Bec & Bridge. She was a regular visitor to Bali and fell in love with the breezy lifestyle and fashion that followed, but couldn’t quite capture that island-life feel when she arrived home.

“My husband I would go to Bali four or five times a year and I wanted to have that relaxed resort feel and aesthetic back home. I’m a city girl and I love urban life but I wanted to be able to put on a pair of heels with my floaty dress and go out to dinner in the city. I wanted the best of both worlds.”

Like any great business success story, when Reid couldn’t find what she wanted she created her own and Steele was born. She focused on small runs using quality fabrics, ethically produced with an eye on sustainability and her first collection of resort-inspired pieces was snapped up by Myer, followed later by David Jones and the likes of US cult giant Anthropologie.

“It’s always been a case of thinking about what I want to wear and what I want to see in my wardrobe, I am my own muse I guess,” she laughs, “in a sense, I’m creating my own dream wardrobe every season.”

You can almost smell the frangipani and feel the sand between your toes in Steele’s current range, an eye-popping collection of sorbet-neon inspired shirts, dresses, crops and skirts that will be a focal point of the store when it opens on December 11.

And Reid doesn’t seem the least bit nervous about this big, bold, bricks-and-mortar move during the uncertainty of retail life post-pandemic. 

“I’m a big believer in gut instinct and I trust my instinct. I wanted something that was a creative studio and a retail showroom in one, just as much for our staff and internal community as it is for the customer. I want to redefine how customers engage with the brand.

“This is a beautiful store. We’ve invested so much in the planning and fit-out [because] we want our customers to feel amazing when they come in here and have an amazing experience. We can’t wait.”

Steele, 733 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn

steelelabel.com