WeWearAustralian to make U.S. debut in Soho
An Australian brand that stocks fashion from designers Down Under will soon be opening its first store in the United States.
WeWearAustralian will soon debut in New York City’s Soho neighborhood at 69 Mercer Street, where fashion brands will be charged for the racks they take up.
“We are thrilled to have secured this exceptional SoHo location for WeWearAustralian's U.S. launch," said Ian Lerner, senior director of Cushman & Wakefield, which handled the lease negotiations. “This deal introduces a distinctive and innovative retail concept to one of New York City’s most dynamic shopping districts.”
The store will consist of two 2,500-sq.-ft. spaces, one on the ground floor and one on the lower level of the location that sits between Spring and Broome Streets in Soho, a retail area populated by boutiques, galleries, and restaurants.
WeWearAustralian’s founders, Richard Poulson and Kelly Atkinson, got the idea for the store when they took a group of Australian designers to New York for a trunk show during New York’s annual Fashion Week.
“We learned then that there is huge demand for Australian brands,” Poulson told the Financial Review. “We had 1,000 people through the doors and did nearly $500,000 in sales in three days.”
Instead of onboarding with a traditional wholesale partner, Atkinson and Poulson set up WeWearAustralian as a U.S. distributor that allows brands to sell to the U.S. market without minimum order quantities.
The married couple’s plan is to establish four stores in the U.S. within the coming four years. Next stops will be Dallas, Miami and Los Angeles.
“WeWearAustralian provides a unique platform for Australian brands seeking to enter the U.S. market, and 69 Mercer Street offers an ideal setting to showcase these brands to a global audience,” said Lerner.