the opportunity beyond Australia and broadening its proposition beyond dresses for special events. Mackenzie told Inside Retail that the business grew from $269 million in annual revenue in 2019 to around $400 million today. But reaching its next milestone will require more than adding locations. The ambition is to become relevant across more of customers’ lives, while preserving the feminine aesthetic that established recognition and loyalty in Australia and helped the brand find an audience overseas. Moving beyond the occasion Forever New’s strength in occasionwear created both global recognition and a commercial constraint. As Mackenzie explained, special events do not necessarily generate frequent shopping visits. The brand’s expansion into workwear, knitwear, separates and versatile essentials offered a way to engage customers between occasions. The task was not to abandon dresses, but to build collections that worked together and gave women reasons to consider the brand for work, weekends and everyday dressing. The pandemic accelerated that reassessment. With events cancelled and customers staying home, Forever New explored leisurewear and responded to the demand for comfort. The disruption highlighted the risks of depending on particular categories or occasions. Looking back, Mackenzie acknowledged that the business could have moved sooner. “If I were to approach anything differently, I would have accelerated some of those strategic changes earlier,” she said. The opportunity also reflected changing customer expectations around versatility, quality and value. Mackenzie described customers wanting clothing that could move between different settings rather than serve a single event. That required attention to fabrication, fit and how categories connected. “Ultimately, the objective isn’t to move away from what Forever New is known for,” she said. “It’s to give our customers more reasons to shop with us, more often.” Choosing the right route overseas International expansion has demanded a similar flexibility. Forever New has combined stores, concessions, wholesale and digital channels rather than imposing one model everywhere. In the Middle East, the business initially entered the region through Debenhams before moving into standalone stores. In the United States, Nordstrom has helped establish demand and awareness alongside the Ever New digital business. Each approach offers a different balance of investment, operational complexity and control over customer experience. The Nordstrom relationship has also given Forever New confidence to consider opening its own US stores, although Mackenzie didn’t confirm any immediate plans. Understanding local demand remains central to those decisions. “For me, successful international expansion isn’t about replicating the Australian business in every market,” she explained. “It’s about maintaining a consistent global brand identity while having the flexibility to remain locally relevant.” Product assortments are part of that adaptation and localisation strategy. Building the next phase Improving product and customer experience is another priority, but accessibility remains central to the proposition. Forever New’s internal design studio, pattern room and global manufacturing partners provide the backdrop to that ambition. According to Mackenzie, customers can expect improvements in fabric quality, fit, design detail and collection cohesiveness. Stores and digital channels must reflect that positioning too. “Elevating the product doesn’t necessarily mean increasing prices,” Mackenzie said. “It’s about delivering greater value through better design, stronger fabrications and a more disciplined approach to product development and assortment planning.” Internationally, the priority is also to deepen existing market positions, strengthen digital and wholesale partnerships and increase recognition. Rather than treating geographic reach as the objective, Mackenzie framed expansion around sustainable profitability and disciplined decisions about investment. The next challenge will be balancing creativity, speed and commercial discipline. For Mackenzie, the distinction is between selling internationally and building a brand with genuine global relevance. “My ambition is for Forever New to be recognised as a globally relevant fashion brand, not simply an Australian retailer operating internationally,” she said. “The next phase of growth needs to be about the quality and strength of the business, not just its size.”