Blog #1: Adidas Y3

Now Open: Adidas x Yohji Yamamoto Collab Y-3 Gets a Debut Australian Flagship Store

Pioneering streetwear label Y-3 now has a dedicated Sydney shopfront. Find understated Japanese style in sporty suiting and luxe activewear alongside basics, jackets and footwear.

Caroline Ball first encountered Y-3, the permanent collaboration between Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto and German sportswear giant Adidas, after a big night out in Berlin.

“I was in a very moodily lit boutique on a freezing cold morning in Berlin before consuming the best morning-after sandwich I’ve ever eaten,” she laughs.

“It was mind-blowing to me. Y-3 is the brand that invented the category of streetwear – it’s weird for our generation to imagine a time when it didn’t exist."

Now Ball, known for her fashion concept store Sorry Thanks I Love You, has brought Y-3 to Australia with the opening of a flagship store in Westfield Sydney in the CBD.

“Y-3 is very original in that it blends Adidas’s sports heritage, high-performance fabrics and manufacturing capabilities with Yohji’s elegant iconic silhouettes and tailoring,” Ball says.

The new Sydney store, launched on March 1, carries all five categories within the collection: tailoring (jackets and suiting), performance (sportswear), outerwear (jackets and weatherproof pieces), core pieces (cotton basics designed for layering) and footwear and accessories.

“Each piece is an experiment in seeing a fashion garment through a sporting lens, or vice versa. I think the size of the collection and the longevity of this partnership is testament to the brand’s experience bringing Yohji’s craftsmanship together with Adidas’s high-tech prowess,” Ball says.

Store design is in line with a new “art gallery meets sporting arena” concept the brand launched late in 2022 for its outlets around the world.

Portuguese cork columns, discs of mottled blue recycled plastics, recycled rainbow-flecked rubber and custom-fabricated brushed stainless-steel racking are among the elements of the fit-out, which also features an old-school projector.

“My personal favourites are the stools made from layers of granite, pink and blue recycled plastics and spongy black rubber, like giant liquorice allsorts, and curvy joinery inspired by playgrounds and gym equipment,” Ball says.

Inside the shop you’ll find the new Y-3 collection Chapter One, which features plenty of archival pieces in celebration of the label’s 20th anniversary, with Chapter Two arriving in early April.

“Anyone who has come across Y-3 will know that its production is of the highest level, and the brand itself is all about understated style. There are secret pockets-in-pockets, lots of very subtle black-on-black motifs, and even tiny QR codes on inner care instruction labels.”

It’s that relaxed and functional aesthetic that Ball is banking on when it comes to the local market. “The lightweight, high-performance fabrics are perfect for our climate and the fact that these pieces are so comfortable and easy to care for makes them really great everyday pieces. A modern uniform for the streets.”

Ball says she’s long had her eye on Y-3, and when the opportunity came to partner with the brand she founded the company Y-3 Australia and New Zealand, amassed a local team, and jumped on it.

“Our partnership with Y-3 encompasses both countries, and we’re very excited to be opening in other locations across both countries, with Melbourne being the next city,” Ball says.

Excerpt from Broadsheet

Blog #3: 1001 Optometry

Eyewear retailer 1001 Optometry is refurbishing 25 to 30 stores located in shopping centres, implementing the brand’s “Details are Beautiful” strategy.

The company tapped The Great Indoors interior designer Gesa Hopkinson for the refurbishment, which features glazed walls to allow guests to view the optometry equipment and testing rooms.

The interior’s design elements include oak timber walls, adjustable LED lighting, and closable curtains for customers who opt for private consultations.

“Overall, the key focus is to elevate the optometry process and create transparency and views into the optometry equipment and testing rooms so that the store design visually indicates more about the retail and service design experience (elevating the key service of optometry) rather than hiding the optometry rooms and the process behind walls,” said Hopkinson.

The company says materials were sourced from commercial suppliers engaged in “sensible and environmentally focused operations”.

Source: Excerpt from Inside Retail article.

Blog #4: Lifegrain Cafe

Biophilic inspired design concepts at Life Grain Cafe

Life Grain Café at Prince of Wales Randwick – Shortlisted for Best Hospitality Grab N Go Sydney Design Awards 2025

Life Grain has a direct connection with food that originates from the earth, which is directly connected through the application of strategic biophilic design principles. The design focuses on material colours that connect with the brand palette of Life Grain, indoor plants are used to connect with nature, warm timbers are used for the horizontal planting boxes behind the counter, wall claddings, and counter front finishes. 

There is a deeper connection to the earth and nature through the use of the warmer materials and earthy tones; studies indicate that the use of timber within the built environment significantly positively affects our well-being. 
The hospital environment can be challenging and stressful. The cafe has been designed with this in mind to bring peace, tranquillity and a welcome break for staff, patients & visitors. The project celebrates the client's desire, Life Grain, to vastly improve the quality of food served within the hospital network.

Excerpt from Driven by Design Awards