Australian luggage brand July is celebrating the opening of its new Melbourne flagship — blending the worlds of retail, architecture, art and design in a way that perfectly echoes founders Athan Didaskalou and Richard Li’s approach to reinventing the travel experience.
The stunning new hometown retail space in the Melbourne CBD stretches beyond the boundaries of traditional retail design, celebrating travel and inviting curiosity by evoking Italian piazzas with terrazzo flooring, marble surfaces, brass sconces, custom leather tables and handcrafted timber elements. Hand-painted ceiling frescoes by Sydney-based artist George Raftopolous cap things off, looming over the entire suite of travel products including suitcases, shoulder bags and travel accessories including tech and packing aids.
Innovations like the world’s first suitcase with a built-in tracker, the CaseSafe range, and the Capsule Carry On Pro (which hinges open from its widest side for easy packing) solve problems that plague the modern traveller — and they do it in style. As July readies to take on the world, we caught up with Didaskalou.
It was always our ambition, but it’s one of those things that feels surreal when it happens. Entering the travel category means taking a leap of faith that you have the legs (and the stomach) to tackle a global market. We get butterflies every time we see a July suitcase in the wild, especially when that happens overseas. Opening our first bricks-and-mortar retail presence in an international market definitely kicks that feeling into high gear.
Our amazing architect, Ana [Ćalić McLean] at In Addition, definitely drew inspiration from a variety of Europe’s historic forums and piazzas, particularly their geometry and spatial arrangement. Those ancient floor plans helped us land on this idea of having a really strong axis point as a core feature of the design. Early on we fell in love with references across Milan especially, with the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and its stunning floors and the many duomos around the city.
Two things: your life will be irrevocably changed for the better when you pack with packing cells. You get back so much room, so much mental clarity, so much organisation. Those little cubes are honestly a game-changer. Second thing: after years of feedback, customer insights, and my own travels, we know the formula for how much underwear to pack. It’s two pieces for every night on the road. Follow the rule.
Our new Capsule suitcase is designed in such a way that you can access the entire interior without having to lie it down and open the whole thing up. The inspiration came from Qantas flight staff, who noted how hard it was to get into their suitcase in small spaces. We created a little magnetic ledge so that you can reach in while the case is fully upright. People look at you like you’re a wizard. It also comes with our CaseSafe technology that lets you track it straight from your phone.
Ha, yes! There are so many annoying little things we have come to ‘accept’ that don’t need to be the status quo. We’re trying to bring luxury back into travel. It’s becoming harder, with long lines, cancelled flights, and lost luggage. We created the world’s first trackable TSA lock built into the case, so we’re solving problems within our reach.
I can’t tell you all our secrets, though.
It’s amazing what a bit of exposure can do to the mind. After watching the FIFA World Cup I’m a big fan of Norway now, so I can’t wait to go visit and discover a country that wasn’t really on my list before!
The new July store is in the QV Melbourne: 21 Albert Coates Ln, Melbourne City.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
