Sydney’s best fashion hotspots and places to shop: an insider’s guide

Sydney’s classic “look” might traditionally have been all blonde bombshells and surfers, but now thanks to glam urbanites, elevated earth mother types, vintage lovers and edgy unisex fashion, the Australian city’s style has diversified – making it the perfect place to shop and people watch.

“One catalyst of change in Australian fashion is the Asia market,” says Dane Stojanovic, creative director of women’s magazine Grazia Australia. “Their buying power is increasingly significant here.”

This is most visible in the revamped central business district – now a high-end shopping hub with international brands’ flagships dotted along areas like George Street. Asian students, tourists and young residents fund the city’s high fashion boutiques with their obsession for brands like Off-White, Gucci and Balenciaga. Parallel to this, a growing scene in Australia for designers of Asian descent is offering a new aesthetic.

Sydney’s local labels, from the glam to grungy, are also becoming more international. Below, Sydney insiders share their tips on the best places to hang out, shop and people watch in Australia’s biggest, most picturesque city.

Fashion scene favourites

“There’s an alluring artistic energy in Sydney, especially in areas like Paddington and Darlinghurst,” says Australian fashion writer and social media influencer Alexia Petsinis. “It’s great to wander from street to street, stumbling upon small art galleries and vintage stores.”

Multibrand Parlour X, set in an old church in Paddington, comes recommended by local stylists and fashion folk.

“They do an incredible job at curating both Australian and international labels,” says Petsinis. “The church setting makes for a really memorable – almost theatrical – shopping experience.”

Nicky Zimmermann, creative director of the popular Zimmermann brand, loves to head down to the Intersection of Paddington.

“It has this small village vibe and a nice mix of Australian and international designers,” she says. “On the weekend, for people watching, you cannot beat hanging out at Bondi.”

Vintage stores like Daisy Retro, Route 66 and The Real Deal are favourites for couple Eugene Leung and Dan Tse, the designers behind fashion brand Injury.

“We also often visit those stores and Distal Phalanx to look for new designer clothes and check out latest publications.”

Stojanovic describes Sydney as very self aware of its own style tribes, and that the city has really embraced the specific and unique aesthetic each comes with.

“Go to the Eastern suburbs and you used to just see people in a combo of every day ready-to-wear with resort wear. But now it has diversified: there’s boho spiritual types with one look and there are people in all designer and heels dressing like it's the French Riviera,” he says.

Local heroes

David Jones is perhaps Australia’s most famous department store, stocking international brands as well as local labels. It offers a quick overview of what’s popular in Sydney style in store.

In the central business district, there’s the big Westfield’s mall, where international brands mix with local ones like Zimmermann. Along with this brand, easily exportable Sydney labels like Aje, P.E Nation and Camilla & Marc have become heroes on the style scene.

“There has always been some unique talent here, but more recently, a lot of local designers are really finding their own niche and creating a distinct aesthetic that feels true to the Australian lifestyle,” says Zimmermann.

Head to the historical building that houses the Strand Arcade in the centre of town for small boutiques by local designers like Dion Lee, Scanlan Theodore, Akira Isogawa and Aje. The Strand’s instagrammable interiors make this a popular stop for fashion-conscious travellers.

One of Sydney’s most respected and iconic fashion designers is Kyoto-born Akira Isogawa. The Japanese designer broke out in Sydney’s fashion scene when he first started his label over 25 years ago with a West-East style, intricate embroideries and handicraft. A retrospective of his work finished this year at the city’s famed Powerhouse Museum, showing his impact on Australian fashion.

“My style is a breakaway from the beachy, casual fashion Australia is known for,” Isogawa says.

“People are active and ready to exercise here. People really take care of their bodies.”

Isogawa’s look is refined yet rugged – Eastern inspired but with Australian effortlessness and ease. He modernises traditional Asian styles, and often uses exposed seams and raw edges.

“Ultimately Akira’s success is down to how he interprets Australian culture through highly precise Japanese craftsmanship, and his pattern-making is really symbolic of Australia’s multiculturalism,” says Stojanovic.

Beach culture and sports styles

Sydney’s outdoorsy lifestyle means that the beach and activewear trends play a significant role in the city’s sartorial culture. But it’s not just all about Lorna Janes and Lululemons. Fashion-forward local labels like P.E Nation have stepped in with urban, sports-inspired performance wear and athleisure.

At Sydney fashion week in May, the brand put on an impressive show showing bright, fluoro ’90s-inspired hues, powerful silhouettes and a collaboration with Speedo. You will find P.E Nation at Above the Clouds in Darlinghurst or at David Jones department stores.

The Bondi Beach area is the hotspot for fashion-forward boutiques specialising in beach, surf and swim styles, as well as sports and athleisure gear.

“In terms of fashion, it's easy for beach culture to become a cliché,” says Stojanovic. “Now lots of people pair that laid back aesthetic we’ve become famous for with international trends. The other day, I saw a woman wearing a Bottega Veneta mesh square toe heel with a long and flowy Camilla & Marc dress.”

Australians have a way of keeping their styles relaxed yet relevant, and today, more elevated.

“I think designers in Australia are really lucky,” says Zimmermann. “In some ways being so isolated makes it harder to be connected to what’s happening globally, but in other ways, that isolation has helped us – especially for Zimmermann in the early days – define the way we approach design and dressing. Our lifestyle and environment is unique, and I think it comes through in the things we create.”

Style, art and music – with an alternative edge

Tougher, urban styles have gained popularity in recent years. Injury’s Leung and Tse love the city’s more underground creative scenes.

Their own brand started off as a street art and music collective, and is now sold in boutiques like the Annex in Bondi and the Candy Store on Bourke Street (as well as all over China, and in Hong Kong at D-Mop, I.T and Harvey Nichols). They point out Redfern, Surry Hills and Newtown as the best places to check out the latest fashions.

“Newtown is full of subcultural atmosphere, it’s a place for treasure hunting and ideas that help build the universe of our brand,” says Leung. “The area has a young, eclectic vibe for fashion and music with lots of independently owned stores, cafes and venues.”

Here vintage stores Daisy Retro, Route 66 and The Real Deal are favourites for Tse. “We visit those stores and Distal Phalanx to look for designer clothes and check out the latest publications.”

The Australian style of modern, clean lines is still going very strong, but Tse says that the fashion scene has been moving to a more alternative kind of streetwear, with an experimental underground vibe.

Even the Bondi scene can diversify away from its swim and surf roots towards a more streetwise attitude. Ten Pieces is a Sydney label also inspired by music and subculture: Italian to be precise – a nod to the founder Maurice Tzerini’s roots. Its Resort 2020 line debuted in May with a runway in the (emptied out) famous Icebergs swimming pool at Bondi Beach.

“The first time we did the show here in the Bondi Icebergs swimming pool, there were 2000-plus people. It was f***ing incredible, it was like being at a football match,” says Tzerini, laughing. “We started the show with a shark siren so all the surfers in the water just next to us were freaking out.”