Musician and fashion designer Anna Cordell has opened her first bricks-and-mortar store for her namesake brand.
After five years of online trading, Cordell unveiled the store late last year to provide customers with an in-person experience that she felt could not be offered online.
"I love creating one-off garments and small runs of clothing, which is very difficult to share on an online-only platform," Cordell said.
"Many of the fabrics I'm drawn to are also very tactile, which needs to be experienced in a space where you can touch, see, and feel.
"It does feel like a bit of a rebellion to open a shop in the current climate, but I've always relied heavily on my gut instincts and doing so at this time just feels right," she said.
The boutique is housed in a heritage-listed building dating back to 1890 and is located in Northcote's High Street Village.
The interior reflects the vintage-inspired style of Cordell's designs and features wood panelling, dark ceilings, gold textured wallpaper, velvet curtains and Persian rugs.
It also houses an upstairs studio that Cordell uses to meet with clients for custom projects.
"When I discovered the space had a spiral staircase that led up to a studio, it caught my imagination," Cordell added.
"I'd always dreamt of having another area to keep as a studio space to offer custom meetings and customisation of garments," she said.
The customisation element is vital to Cordell's brand – having started the label after being asked by fellow musicians to dress them in her eclectic style.
Over the lifetime of the brand Cordell has dressed the likes of Courtney Barnett, Angie McMahon, Amy Taylor and Missy Higgins, growing the label from one-off projects for friends to an offering of suits, dresses, jumpsuits, tops and jackets.
"Many of my customers are musicians as that's where it all started for me – making clothes for fellow musicians to wear on stage," Cordell said.
"I'm so happy it's still a huge part of what we do as a label," she said.
The Anna Cordell boutique is open now and trades from Thursday to Sunday from 11am.
