News
Issue No. 51 - February/March 2010
Making Rundle a high-fashion address
Fashion is big business - a $14 billion dollar industry, by latest figures - and South Australia is finally on the map for high-profile Australian fashion designers. Famous names such as Sass and Bide, Mimico, and most recently Lisa Ho have set up shop in Adelaide’s Rundle Street.
The premier retail precinct’s biggest commercial landlord, Maras Group, has been instrumental in re-inventing Rundle Street as a boutique fashion destination, working hard to attract the fashion elite.
Maras Group owns several adjacent buildings along the southern side of Rundle, between East Terrace and Union Street, and set an ambitious plan in motion a couple of years ago. The group sought to co-locate leading fashion designers in the strip, creating a totally branded, high-profile fashion hub. The vision was in place by the end of 2009 but it’s a work in progress.
Mimco opened in Rundle Street in 2006, Gripp Jeans in 2008. Sass & Bide, SABA, Calibre, Zimmerman and Lisa Ho followed suit and in 2010, Jack London and Alannah Hill will also open.
“In essence it was a case of having the right location and the ability to attract the right mix to create a true fashion precinct and co-locating the operators to provide critical mass,” says Maras Group MD, Steve Maras.
“In this specific case we were able to offer a string of tenancies in a row, as old leases came to an end.
“In addition, most of the operators took comfort in knowing that as Maras Group ...
