Starting a global fashion brand was a long-held ambition of Australian designer Rebecca Vallance-Gasan, and in 2011 she launched her eponymous brand Rebecca Vallance in London and New York. The following year, the brand launched in Australia. This week, the label officially opened its new Sydney flagship store in the city’s iconic Strand Arcade. Twelve months in the making, the store offers customers an elevated experience in a larger retail space. Growing global The Sydney flagship is j
ship is just the beginning of the designer label’s domestic expansion. Four new stores will open across Australia within the next four months in Sydney, Perth and Melbourne, with more scheduled for 2025. The goal is for the business to have 20 direct-to-consumer retail stores globally within the next few years.
“Our focus is strategic growth across both our direct-to-consumer business as well as our international wholesale,” Vallance-Gasan, founder and creative director of Rebecca Vallance, told Inside Retail.
Currently, the brand has six stores in Australia and is “focused on building a global vertical footprint underpinned by a successful international wholesale business” before opening an international DTC boutique.
The UK and Europe account for 53 per cent of the brand’s wholesale business and will account for a big focus moving forward, due to strong organic growth in these markets.
“We will then be looking at wider international retail rollouts to follow,” Vallance-Gasan said.
Since 2020 Rebecca Vallance’s online sales growth in Australia has increased by 52 per cent annually. Internationally this figure sits at around 62 per cent annually. “Our brick-and-mortar stores have grown 66 per year [in terms of sales] since Covid. With a focus to continue to grow our retail footprint,” Vallance-Gasan said.
“I have always considered Rebecca Vallance an international brand. We have seen such a strong and dedicated following since the brand’s inception and the continuation of our global approach has come naturally and makes sense for the brand’s growth and evolution moving forward,” she added.
One of the biggest hurdles to global growth is the challenge of managing the brand from Australia, alongside time zone challenges. However, Vallance-Gasan said the team is well-versed in this and has established connections to get on-the-ground feedback in real-time.
Partnerships primed for success
Establishing the brand in New York before launching in the Australian market has set Rebecca Vallance up for some iconic partnerships. Last year, the brand partnered with Qantas to launch its direct flight from Sydney to New York.
“We worked with Qantas on the rollout of their marketplace activity, so the pyjama and amenity kit was a natural progression for the brand. Our presence in the US was also a key factor when we were working through the partnership,” Vallance-Gasan said.
Nurturing its relationship with wholesalers will be key as the brand continues to drive global expansion.
“They truly are an extension of the Rebecca Vallance brand and help us to service our customers in our top markets across the UK and Europe, the US, and the Middle East,” Vallance-Gasan said.
“The brand DNA has always been global – I started the brand when I was living in London so I always expected it would be international, and for it to have an aesthetic that appeals to that global customer is something that I have focused on since the inception of the brand,” she added.
Diversifying the product offering
Rebecca Vallance’s target market is the modern woman who wants to dress up to look chic and feminine. Some pieces in the brand’s recent Fall/Winter collection have embellishments that took 60 to 65 hours to construct.
However, as fashion trends have shifted towards ‘quiet luxury’ and a more minimalist aesthetic, Rebecca Vallance has launched a range of what Vallance-Gasan describes as “timeless wardrobe must-haves.”
Launched last year, the Essentials range is the brand’s way of leaning into this “whilst still offering our distinctive Rebecca Vallance aesthetic to our customer who loves to push the boundaries a bit more through the use of colour, cut, and embellishments,” Vallance-Gasan said.
The goal is to eventually offer two Essentials edits a year.
“At this stage, we have designed a limited capsule, however, we aim for the Essentials range to become a core collection of the brand’s overall offering moving forward. Each season, we will build on the Essentials Edit by designing new styles and colourways,” Vallance-Gasan concluded.
Further reading: “We are seeing a return to having fun with fashion”: Rebecca Vallance