There is a thread of change weaving through Brisbane lately. While it’s often stereotyped as the laidback little sister of the bigger and busier cities of Sydney and Melbourne -- it’s now undergoing a transformation. You can see it in the edgier architecture being built and the laneways development projects and, most importantly, it’s flexing a newfound fashion muscle as well.

Stephen Jones’ exhibition ‘Hats: An Anthology’ has been displayed exclusively at the Queensland Art Gallery, Pandora has announced a new store will be opening in the heart of Brisbane’s Queen St. mall and an exhibition by Valentino of his greatest designs has recently begun in Brisbane. With all of this coinciding with the $950,000 investment in the fourth Mercedes Benz Brisbane Fashion Festival from the 7th to 13th of August it’s clear that Brisbane fashionistas are keen to ditch their singlets and thongs reputation.

Brisbane has an impressive style pedigree such as Sass & Bide, Easton Pearson, Gina Kim, Project Runway winner Julie Grabc and George Wu. This strong designer heritage has now filtered down to the street level with boutiques specialising in designer or more affordable, accessible clothing sprouting up all over town.

The appeal of Brisbane shopping comes down to locality. While in other major capitals the pockets of retail heaven and the city are spread apart by pricey 20 minute taxi rides, Brisbane’s prime shopping sectors are all within a 5 km radius of each other.

Inner city suburb Paddington is renowned for its mix of luxe boutiques such as Meow Meow and feminine trend pit stops like La La Latrobe. This is all a stone’s throw from Fortitude Valley which has an edgier, alternative vibe and it’s one postal code away from the city. Search the city’s main Queen Street drag for Bam & Juju, the Natalia Denning franchise, the many arcades, notably Elizabeth, and Angus Black and Dirtbox for men.

While Brisbane has always had the usual suspects such as Witchery and Sportsgirl it’s the recent renovations to the QueensPlaza district in the city with the inclusion of Gorman, Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton, Max Mara and Max & Co. that catapulted Brisbane to international standards.

Designer Bianca Batson who launched her “Batson” range of headpieces and womenswear earlier this year, believes the immediacy of overseas styles hitting Brisbane is a key factor in Brisbane’s transformation. Jean Brown in Fortitude Valley, launched in 2008, stocks brands like Chloè, Balenciaga and Yves St Laurent and receives weekly drops from European runways. Batson adores Jean Brown and says it “has fashion followers travelling from all over the country to shop there and it’s a Brisbane exclusive.”

Brisbane born designer Gail Reid’s clothing line, Gail Sorronda, with its black and white aesthetic, emphasis on volume and unique fabrics, leaves most fashion followers salivating. It is very successful in Italy and Japan yet when the first flagship store was opened in Brisbane’s TCB shopping mall in the Valley it was defunct in less than two years and Reid relocated to Paris to find her niche. So despite the image change can Brisbane not handle, or even offer, high calibre internationally renowned designers? Lydia Zimnoch Woolcott, owner and buyer for Drobe in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley, doesn’t think so. “I have introduced many high end labels to Brisbane not knowing how they would be received and they have all gone so well.”

There are interesting concept stores in Brisbane such as couture designer Daniel Alexander’s boutique on Fortitude Valley’s Wickham Street which has his own designs downstairs while ‘upstairs on Wickham’, located above his own store, stocks designs from younger designers not as well established as himself. There is also the Little Black Dress shop in Paddington that, yes you guessed it, is entirely dedicated to the ever faithful LBD. It is the height of decadence shopping with personal styling and champers on tap.

While they may not have the history, grandeur or even size of Sydney’s Paddington or Melbourne’s Victoria markets Brisbane does have its own vibrant market scene. The weekend markets in Fortitude Valley and Southbank offer a mixture of designer and quirky jewellery and fashion as well as food so your literal and metaphorical tastebuds are satisfied.

Lynda Brennan, who is from Melbourne but moved to Brisbane after seeing a gap in the boutique fashion market, is owner and buyer for renowned boutique Meow Meow. “We offer more high end directional labels who really set the trends for seasons to come and other stores to follow.” She believes it’s the areas outside of the CBD that are Brisbane’s style mecca’s. “The city areas are packed with commercial chainstores but suburbs such as Paddington cater more to their specialized field and clientele as they are looking to build a customer base rather than selling to the masses.” Brennan believes it is also the endearing surroundings, a mixture of “art galleries and antiques” that sets Paddington apart. While Brennan concedes there are similarities between Brisbane’s Paddington and Surry Hills in Sydney and Hawthorne and Armadale in Melbourne “our store really focuses on designer labels who have a point of view behind their designs rather than just being on trend because they can or being influenced by others.” It stocks, amongst many other delectable designs, Lover, Lucette, Romance Was Born and Woodford + Co.

Zimnoch Woolcott also has a moral compass guiding her store. “Drobe is all about sourcing Australian labels that are not in Brisbane yet so most of our labels are exclusive to us and we are always acquiring new ones to keep it all fresh.” She says her store has elements of the Melbourne aesthetic and archetype and believes Brisbane locals are becoming more open to cutting edge, alternative styles that are usually reserved for the south. “People here are open to different styles and really love the opportunity to get something different.” Drobe stocks impressive labels such as Lady Petrova, Indigo Joker and Benjamin Ringuet and emerging labels such as SOOT and Paper Chain. Prices start at $29 for accessories and garments range from $100 to $600.

Batson says that despite the notion within the industry and public that Brisbane tends to be more mainstream than its wilder southern counterparts the reality is much brighter. “I think it comes down to aesthetic, everyone down south wears black, whereas in Brisbane we like to mix it up with colour.”   

Batson has hope for the future too. “Brisbane is now up to the standard of the south and it will continue to grow. Every year there are more young Brisbane designers desperate to make their mark on the industry, and Queensland University of Technology says that there are 20% more students applying for the fine arts (fashion) degree in Brisbane every year.”

So don’t charter your next shopping holiday to the fabric markets of India or the couture cavalcades of Paris as even though Sydney and Melbourne still rule the east coast of Australia’s fashion scene it’s clear Brisbane is on a fast track to being a fashion Queen - or at the very least, Princess in waiting.