Melbourne as a counterpart to its ‘northside’ flagship store on Gertrude Street. A walk-in wardrobe This time around, Best collaborated with his mother-in-law who happens to be an interior designer to turn the 50sqm corner store into a shoppable billboard. “I sort of saw it as a wardrobe that you would be walking into, because it’s a smaller space… the Best Jumpers wardrobe,” Best told Inside Retail. The selection of garments is an edited-down version of Best Jumpers’ core and new collection, ready to introduce new customers to the brand. “I guess that’s the learning process as we open, and it’ll adjust over time as we adapt and change,” Best said about evolving the Hawksburn Village store’s stock in line with locals’ taste.  The biggest difference between Best Jumpers’ flagship store and its concept store is the potential to reach a different demographic. “The consumer is the biggest difference and why we wanted to do the store in the south side,” said Best. A unique location that attracted heavy local foot traffic was top of mind for Best when he was discerning where to open Best Jumpers’ concept store – a generic location like the middle of Chapel Street did not make the shortlist. “For me, it was thinking of what area would have good potential that’s not necessarily already piggybacking off a lot of other established brands,” explained Best. “But what area can we grow a customer base? And that was appealing for Hawksburn Village for me,” he continued. At the brands core  Bricks-and-mortar is a costly investment for fashion retailers, especially locally made independent brands, but Best insists it is the best way to communicate his brand story. “Part of the DNA of the brand is the quality of garments – we use the best fabrics to create garments which sometimes can’t be seen online,” shared Best. “So things like outerwear is something that’s definitely able to be sold in stores when people come in and can actually physically see and feel the fabric,” he added. As Best Jumpers looks to grow its offering with a move into tailoring and soon womenswear, it’s the brand’s popular core offering that is fuelling this phase of location and category growth. Its wombat logo caps and ‘mate’ slogan knitwear garments are some of the brand’s most popular garments and new iterations appear almost every season. “It’s still testing and growing the brand in different areas but at a small scale while we’ve still got that core, and I think that’s really helped the business,” stated Best. Since launching in 2018, Best Jumpers has become a favourite amongst Melbourne fashion enthusiasts for its clean lines, refined tailoring, neutral palette and workwear aesthetic – successfully filling the gap Best identified in the Australian market. “There are a lot of brands, to me, like resort wear or that lifestyle resort, which I think is just not necessarily [relevant] for us here in Melbourne,” said Best. After studying at Parsons and working at Ralph Lauren in New York City, Best was inspired to create a brand that seamlessly blends elements of Australians’ relaxed culture while staying true to Melbourne’s urban environment. “I came back and I was like, ‘I want to start a brand that’s uniquely Australian’,” Best confessed. “I think in Australia, we’re often doing what other brands are, or sort of copying what they’re doing in Paris or New York,” he added. Best Jumpers is making a strong bid to grow into an Australian heritage brand and its new store is just the next step.  Best still aims to open Best Jumpers locations further north, but while he waits for the right location to become available, the brand is far from stagnant. “The next goal is to go to the Sydney store and when it arises, but also grow our offering in a different way,” Best concluded.