By Aimee Chanthadavong
Having been previously responsible for a number of cultural, fashion and art-related events, the Sydney-based public relations company Dialogue PR has entered the retail realm with the launch of 100 Squared.
Currently housed inside Sydney's redeveloped Westfield Pitt Street, 100 Squared was a blank space that has been transformed into a theatrical retail concept and will act as a breeding ground for new creative talent.
Speaking to Retailbiz, Justin Levy, 100 Squared director, said the concept creates an opportunity for emerging designers to showcase their work and be involved in the selling point first hand.
“We’ve sourced 12 emerging fashion designers to give them a canvas to showcase their work. We’re basically taking ‘bedroom bangers’ and putting them into a space that gives them access to a mass market,” he said.
“The benefit of this is that the designers can engage directly with their customers. It also allows consumers to engage with the 12 individual brands in on space allowing them to see who the designers are buy the actual designs.
“We work closely with the designer to give the designers an education on retail engagement and if they go on to doing bigger better things then we want to be apart of that.”
To keep the space fresh, Levy said the space will be ever changing with hopes to convert it into an art gallery and to host music and film events.
“The response so far has been overwhelming and it has been interesting to see the customers engage with the concept,” Levy said.
“It’s a much less intimidating to enter the space than a normal Westfield retail store because instead of being served by a retail assistant, customers are being served either by their designers or people who are very close the designs.”