Australian dressmaking follows the light, from Bondi linen to occasion pieces cut for Sydney evenings that start late and end later. Sir The Label makes linen dresses and resort separates from a Sydney label founded in Bondi in 2014. Zimmermann builds bohemian swimwear and occasion dresses as a Sydney export. Bianca Spender cuts artistic womenswear with sculptural pieces from her Sydney studio. Let the fabric move before deciding, because a good cut argues its case in motion rather than on the hanger.
Australian dress-shoe brand founded in 1928 at the Phoenix Hotel in Collingwood, Melbourne; the Julius Marlow name was adopted in 1933. Made boots for the US Marine Corps in WWII and introduced its Crystal Sole in 1946.
Best for Australian dress shoes
Julius Marlow's story begins in 1928 at the Phoenix Hotel on Wellington Street in Collingwood, Melbourne, where founder Ivor Trescowthick started the business, choosing the invented name Julius Marlow, formally adopted in 1933. During the Second World War the company manufactured boots for the US Marine Corps, and in 1945 moved production to a larger factory on Hoddle Street. In 1946 the brand introduced the Crystal Sole, a more durable rubber sole that became a signature technical feature. The label has continued as a men's footwear and accessories brand, and in 2012 launched its O2 Motion comfort-technology collection.
Palm. Noosa designs contemporary resort wear in linen and cotton, from dresses and swimwear to hats and jewellery. The label ships from its online store and keeps a boutique at 71 Hastings Street in Noosa Heads.
Best for Resort wear, linen clothing, womenswear, menswear, swimwear
Aje's Bondi Junction shop presents the Australian womenswear label's collections inside the Westfield shopping centre in Sydney. Adrian Norris and Edwina Forest founded the brand in 2008, with this flagship opening later in 2020. The label includes occasion dressing alongside other clothing, but its Australian identity does not establish local manufacture for every garment.
Best for Aje womenswear and occasion dressing in Bondi Junction
Commas makes swim shorts, shirts and resortwear in European fabrics with Australian production or design roots. The refined range bridges swimming and hotel dressing rather than focusing on technical surf performance.
Sydney label founded in Bondi in 2014 by housemates Sophie Coote and Nikki Campbell, launched via an Instagram-only capsule; picked up by Barneys New York within three years and later stocked at Harrods, Matches and Galeries Lafayette. Added a swimwear line in 2020 and opened a Bondi flagship.
Best for Australian linen dresses and resort separates
Sir was started in 2014 in Bondi, Sydney, by Sophie Coote and Nikki Campbell, who were housemates at the time and launched the label with a small, Instagram-only capsule collection rather than a traditional wholesale rollout. The relaxed, resort-driven aesthetic — linen shirting, easy trousers, breezy dresses — found buyers quickly: within its first three years the brand was picked up by Barneys New York, followed by stockists including Harrods, Matches and Galeries Lafayette.
The label expanded into swimwear in 2020, adding structured one-pieces and swim sets to its ready-to-wear range. Sir later returned to its origins with a flagship store in Bondi, the suburb where Coote and Campbell first conceived the label; the store's interior was designed by Tamsin Johnson.
Sir remains run by its two co-founders and is positioned within the broader wave of Australian resort and beach-adjacent labels that built international wholesale distribution largely through digital-first launches rather than runway shows.
Australia's most celebrated international fashion export — fusion of fashion with swimwear, intricate cuts, dainty prints, and bohemian femininity. Worn by Jennifer Lopez and Blake Lively.
Best for Bohemian swimwear and occasion dresses
Nicky and Simone Zimmermann started at Sydney's Paddington Markets in 1991 with clothes cut for actual Australian life — sun, water, long lunches — and built the country's most successful fashion export by refusing to choose between swimwear and fashion. The insight was structural: treat the bikini with couture seriousness and the dress with beach ease, and one wardrobe emerges.
The signatures are recognizable at fifty meters: intricate broderie and lace, dainty botanical prints, ruffled shoulders, silhouettes engineered for golden-hour photography. Sisterhood remains the operating system — Nicky designs, Simone runs the business — and the collections still open with swim.
The house took its runway to New York Fashion Week in the 2010s, planted flagships from Mayfair to Melrose, and in 2023 sold a majority stake to Advent International at a valuation past a billion dollars — Australian fashion's largest deal. Worn everywhere from Bondi to the Amalfi coast, Zimmermann exports the thing Australia actually owns: optimism, tailored.
A locally owned oyster farm and bar on Bruny Island Main Road at Great Bay, harvesting and shucking oysters daily and serving them natural or dressed. Visitors order at the roadside bar or drive-through window and can buy oysters to take away.
Peter Horobin Saddlery is a family business since 1985, founded by Peter and Julie Horobin with children Rhys and Marlee now involved in saddle design, fitting, manufacturing and creative inspiration. The workshop makes dressage, jumping, trail, endurance and racing saddles, including an Australian-made Kangaroo Collection using kangaroo leather.
Best for Custom-made performance and endurance saddles
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