July just opened the doors to its biggest Australian store in Melbourne
Its biggest, and it's last...
FRESHLY poured marbled terrazzo floors, custom timber furnishings and a Renaissance-inspired hand-painted fresco inside July Luggage’s QV flagship point to Europe even though it’s in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD.
The 250sqm retail store feels more like a bespoke hotel lobby than a transactional footprint, where the inspiration to travel might see you just book a ticket.
The unveiling of July’s 15th permanent store in Australia is a mighty statement – the Melbourne-born brand has certainly come a long way since launching as a brand in 2019.
From the moment you enter the store, you’re drawn into a world of sculptural interplay – where architecture, furnishing and objects feel more like a gallery space than traditional bricks and mortar.
July founders Athan Didaskalou and Richard Li reunite with architecture and interior design firm In Addition Studio to script the final chapter of their Australian story. Builders Trust Projects also worked closely to bring this retail shell to life.
The QV Melbourne flagship captures an old-world city grandeur that’s packed with a plot twist too – this is after all the centre where July opened its first CBD store in 2023.
There’s no hiding the inspiration within – a peppering from Milan’s Piazza del Duomo perhaps, where a symphonic architectural soundtrack takes you on a shopping journey with a difference. This is where bespoke suitcases, personalisation stations, carry-on bags and leather overnighters stand proudly against a backdrop of textured walls.
Sculptural wall sconces and handcrafted timber furnishings add to its charm. The custom leather table anchors the room – perfect for an espresso while you wait for your purchase to be personalised. But it’s the fresh-poured terrazzo flooring – which is a first for July – that gives a fabulous marbled effect that adds to the Italian romance.
“We wanted to capture this idea of escapism and bring the idea of travel to the retail space,” explains Ana Ćalić McLean of Melbourne-based design firm In Addition, which she runs with her husband Josh McLean.
“We looked at historic forums, civic spaces and explored the idea of geometry within the store. When you look at the floor plan, it almost feels like you’re in an ancient city – all these intersections and crossroads were purposefully referenced with an intention to make walking through the store a seamless one,” says McLean.
Look up and you’ll see the hand-painted fresco by artist George Raftopoulos – a Renaissance moment designed to make you think about Europe, dreaming of Michelangelo’s work in the Vatican, if you will. The bell sphere on the ceiling is unlike anything the design firm has done on such a huge scale; it adds grandiosity without fail.
Abstract shapes and form thrive within, where accents of terracotta, blasted metal, geometric stone, wooden objects and blush-tinged tiles and textured walls spur you to live a little.
With the Australian store roll-out now complete, July founders will focus on the Asian and US markets.
Didaskalou refers to a quote by the late designer Virgil Abloh with aplomb.
“Virgil once said, ‘If I put this candle in an all-white gallery space, it looks like a piece of art. If I put this candle in a garage, it looks like a piece of trash. I can either spend my time designing the candle or I can spend my time designing the room that it sits in.’”
“That is exactly what the retail experiences should be when you walk into July. They’re fantastic products and I could double down on the engineering or make the spaces more exciting. I am now ready to take our learnings and roll out into retail markets that also appreciate experiential retail, including Korea, New York, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur – we’re coming in the next 12 months,” he says.
Innovation is at the core of the brand’s philosophy. The new capsule carry-on is worth the hype – it sold out within two weeks of hitting the market this year.
“The front open access is designed for laptops; we have a top-down packing system that gives you much more space as opposed to a 50/50 split with a computer. This means you can pack bulkier things like an Akubra hat without squashing it, or a full-sized basketball inflated. We really put a lot of effort into this one,” says Didaskalou.
And for a company named after the best time to travel to Europe from the Southern Hemisphere, the sky is the limit.
“Ultimately, we’re explorers – and that means we don’t necessarily know what’s on the other side of the peak, but we’re happy to strap on the boots and get to the other side,” says Didaskalou of their business approach. “It might be something super exciting and rewarding or be a complete mistake, but I think the idea of building something new and different is what drives us every day.”
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