dot Comme, Curtin House

It's here! The much-loved online fashion boutique dot Comme has finally arrived in physical form. It's a collaborative project between Octavius LaRosa and Holly-Rose Butler, fitted out in Swantson Street's Curtin House in partnership with Melbourne design house Like Butter.

Dot Comme's online platform (which the duo still intend to maintain) started five years ago, borne of their love of clothing galleries from around the world. Since then it's been known to high-end galleries and collectors as the place to find one-off and archival pieces.

The Melbourne store boasts a well curated selection of garments from casual t-shirts to elaborate dress coats. Holly-Rose and Octavius (Otto for short) say the idea was to create something that would appeal to the everyday shopper as well those who want something more specific.

We caught up with Otto and Holly to chat about their lives as a collectors, retail success and the things they love most about Melbourne and Japanese fashion.

---

What inspired you to start collecting?
Otto: I started researching the brands as a teenager and was interested to find that there was clothing like that out there because I’d never seen it before. It was totally different and it really opened my eyes to a new way of presenting yourself.

What did you do before you had the store?
Otto: Straight out of school I was working a regular job then I went travelling and bought a few pieces. Eventually when I got tired of some I’d sell them on Ebay and I realised I’d made a bit of a profit. So I kept doing that and over time I accumulated a bit of a collection. When I met Holly she kind of pushed me into making more of like an online store.
Holly: Because the pieces were too special for eBay and it was a really exciting collection.

How would you say the fashion in Japan compares to the fashion in Melbourne?
Otto: Well yeah you can’t really compare Japanese fashion to the fashion anywhere else I mean, it’s just on another level. They really take it seriously, it is an art form for them.

Like wearable art?
Otto: Yeah, just like the way that each and every person puts together an outfit – they put a lot of thought into it and it’s something that is ingrained in their culture. Melbourne is, I think on it’s way up. Especially compared to a lot of other cities, it’s right up there as a very stylish city.

What other cities are your favourite for fashion?
Otto: Well New York, London and Tokyo.
Holly: And Melbourne! For sure, lots of people here are very willing to be very expressive.

And your fav places in Tokyo?
Otto: Mm probably Harajuku for shopping, then Koenji and also Ayoama.

Where is Ayoama?
Otto: It’s walking from Harajuku on Omotesando, at the end. It’s like super clean and has beautiful shops which are hidden away and with like million dollar fit-outs, in the middle of nowhere.

So before you two met and opened the store together, what were you doing Holly?
Holly: I was working in the same kind of normal job in retail, and had a few pieces that I was wearing on my own. I also had a friend that had an online store and she kind of helped us set it up which made it really easy to get into. Also because we did it just before online stores became such a crazy popular thing. So we kinda just got in there early and now there are billions of stores, and options for you to start your own.

Do you think with that transition it then meant stores needed to bring a little bit more to the table? You know how in Japan and New York a lot of the boutiques are like installations – they’re works of art.
Holly: Yeah like I think in Japan they’re willing to take it to the highest level and there are so many amazing artists that live in Tokyo. Especially over at Dover Street, they collaborate with artists from all around the world. Their stores are like galleries and that is kind of same vibe that we wanted to bring to this store too.

So how did the fit-out for this store all come together.
Holly: So the fit-out was done by Like Butter, they’re in Kensington, and Otto had the idea of having the boxes. Then they did a sketch for these slatted boxes. I designed this clothing rack over here which Jem from Like Butter constructed. It was inspired by an Issey Miyake staircase dress from '94. The stair case houses all the pleated pieces we have on show. We knew how we wanted to lay it out to make sure it was very clean and open but also so that we could have as many pieces on show as possible, because there is still a massive room full of Otto’s collection that is still online. And a lot of it that still isn’t online which Otto's holding on to. Those pieces make up his personal collection.

That will be awesome to revisit later, you could like pop it out one day and have an awesome show.
Otto: That’s the plan!
Holly: Well he sells to museums and galleries all around the world already. We can’t say to who because they’re all really private about where they get their stuff from. So some really amazing galleries and collectors buy directly from us. But in this store we really wanted to have a mixture of more wearable pieces or more casual pieces, I should say. Everything is wearable. So we have a great range of t-shirts and shirts and the price point is better than online.
Otto: Online is for the high-end collectible pieces that sell better overseas, and the store we keep at a lower price point and the pieces that are more accessible for the everyday shopper. But they're still amazing.

I definitely get that vibe, it’s very well done.
Holly: We’re really excited, everyone that’s come in over the past couple of days have been really over the moon, going from online to working out of the Nicholas building which was messy, makes this seems like a nice transition, and what better place to do it than in Melbourne.

Checkout Otto's daily outfits on Instagram @dotcomme.melbourne