Red Ginger is a great place to browse. Source: Supplied
Island Luxe has a country-comes-to-town feel. Source: Supplied
Check out the treasures at Fabulous Mrs Fox. Source: Supplied
A love of the sea is evident at Ahoy Trader. Source: Supplied
THE popular surfing town and surrounds have gone from casual to cool.
AHOY TRADER, BYRON BAY
Artist Jai Vasicek spent much of his childhood sailing the world on his family's yacht, Malachi, and his love of the sea and its creative inspiration shows in his offerings at Ahoy Trader. The ocean runs in his veins and is a constant source of creativity. Vasicek's colourful crosses and wall tiles are highly popular, with an eclectic character that allows them to work in groups or as stand-alone pieces.
Vasicek has created his own little world where you will find a bowerbird's collection of his work, alongside homewares and fashion from Australian designers who share a similar aesthetic. While my wife is a sucker for Vasicek's crosses, I just love the sexy Polynesian motifs of Ahoy Trader's Mahana cushions. More: ahoytrader.com[1] .
DESIGN BANK, BANGALOW
The old Commercial Bank on Byron Street is one of Bangalow's loveliest heritage buildings, featuring beautiful stained wood floors, high ceilings and immaculate brickwork. Now it houses Design Bank, a pleasantly understated shop that stocks great brands such as Deus Ex Machina, RM Williams, Jimmy Stuart and Ben Sherman.
Typically for this part of the world, Design Bank was the creation of an inner-city couple who ran away to the country to "raise their children the old-fashioned way", but shopping was their passion and opening a design store beat home schooling hands down. More: designbankbangalow.com.au[2] .
11/11, BYRON BAY
Ellie Connan's approach to men's and women's fashion is a bit like Byron Bay itself: cool, slick but very casual. Isla slouchy pants and sweaters are front and centre, for example, perfect for that dawn walk to the lighthouse or hitting The Channon markets early. This is a small, vibrant store that punches way above its weight in terms of its stock, which includes Stolen Girlfriends Club, Something Else, Nudie Jeans, Friend of Mine, Karen Walker eyewear and jewellery, and faux fur headwear by Spirithoods. More: 1111oclock.com[3] .
FABULOUS MRS FOX, BRUNSWICK HEADS
This picturesque fishing port just north of Byron has only recently come on the shopping radar, largely thanks to Fabulous Mrs Fox. Situated in a beautiful Italianate building developed by the owners, William and Johanna, Mrs Fox features jewellery, knick-knacks, furniture, fabrics, homewares, clothing, toys and other fabulous treasures, such as exquisite Suffolk Puff quilts. Turkish towels, New York linen and Saltwater sandals have caught my eye, while a vintage Noddy car is just one of Mrs Fox's exquisite antique toys. Also worth checking are the William White mirrors and doll sculptures. More: facebook.com/fabulousmrsfox.shop[4] .
ISLAND LUXE BANGALOW AND ISLAND LUXE TRIBE, BYRON BAY
Long established as destination shopping at the bottom end of Bangalow's stylish strip, Island Luxe is now also in Byron with a country-comes-to-town feel about Tribe's urban cowboy offering. In both stores you'll find exceptionally stylish threads keeping company with Luxe's trademark candles, fragrances and soft leather bags, wallets and folders. Luxe unashamedly pitches to the high-end city transplants, part-timers and regular visitors, with $169 T-shirts (Golden Goose) and $399 jeans (Replay), but there is a unique style about the presentation in both stores that should satisfy both shopaholics and tyre-kicking tourists. More: islandluxe.com.au[5] .
INTO THE WOODS, BYRON BAY
Byron Bay's Arts and Industrial Estate at the edge of town has seen better days, when more space and lower rents than the central business district made it a viable option for the crafty and creative. Now some of the better enterprises have moved back into town, but there are still some gems tucked away, such as Into The Woods in the Byron Creative strip mall. Here artist Sandi Valerio offers a great selection of her toys and decorative pieces, fashioned from new and recycled natural fibres; she also runs studio workshops for children and adults. More: intothewoods.com.au[6] .
LAZYBONES, BANGALOW AND BRUNSWICK HEADS
What began a dozen years ago as a rather indulgent little operation selling pyjamas to ladies who laze has grown into an international business, supplying bedding, sleepwear and stylish clothing to the Anthropologie franchise and more than 200 other stores across the world, as well as ticking up big numbers online. Pay a visit to Lazybones' two Bangalow stores or the one at Brunswick Heads and you'll soon see why.
There's a relaxed, vintage and slightly country feel across all Lazybones lines, but particularly in the Portrait Of A Lady collection of slinky retro-print dresses, supported in-store by some wonderfully kitsch garage-sale portraits of ladies hung around the walls. In Bangalow it's well worth checking the upstairs vintage co-op for bargain pieces. More: lazybones.com.au[7] .
MYEE CARLYLE, BYRON BAY
Possibly not to everyone's taste ("the bohemian and the elegant unite" gushes one swing tag), this singularly local fashion house attempts to use the Byron Bay environment as a colour palette for its hand-dyed silk creations, resulting in a lot of rainforest green and oceanic blue. But the garments are stylish and sexy, accessorised with Myee Carlyle's jewellery range. More: myeecarlyle.com.au[8] .
RED GINGER, BYRON BAY AND BANGALOW
This Chinese grocery and homewares store is a great place to browse for treasures, but be warned that the yum cha smells are intoxicating. I guarantee you will eat here. There are plenty of ingredients to cook your own Asian delicacies, but I like to sit at the streetside cafe (Bangalow store) and nibble dumplings and other goodies while my wife explores shelves stocked with Chinese lanterns, antique furniture, fabrics and slippers. Urns filled with complimentary green tea refresh shoppers. Shop 2, 111 Jonson St, Byron Bay; 38 Byron St, Bangalow.
THREE WORLDS FUN FOR LIFE, BYRON BAY
You're in Byron: you're going to want to do a bit of sunset-hour fire-twirling, right? A spot of juggling? Bring out the inner hippie, let the freak flag fly for just a while. This is the place for you. The Byron HQ of the Three Worlds franchise is in a cute little Marvell Street cottage absolutely chockers with fire-twirling and juggling equipment, bongos, congas, ukuleles, shakers, tambourines and just about anything else you could think of to make a right pest of yourself. And, ahem, all drums stocked are vegan. More: threeworlds.com.au[9] .
Checklist
Byron Bay in the far northeast of NSW is 772km north of Sydney and 180km south of Brisbane. Ballina/Byron Gateway Airport is 35 minutes' drive from town; Queensland's Coolangatta (Gold Coast) airport is 40 minutes by road. More: visitnsw.com[10] ; visitbyronbay.com[11] ; byronbay.com[12] .
References
- ^ ahoytrader.com (ahoytrader.com)
- ^ designbankbangalow.com.au (designbankbangalow.com.au)
- ^ 1111oclock.com (1111oclock.com)
- ^ facebook.com/fabulousmrsfox.shop (facebook.com)
- ^ islandluxe.com.au (islandluxe.com.au)
- ^ intothewoods.com.au (intothewoods.com.au)
- ^ lazybones.com.au (lazybones.com.au)
- ^ myeecarlyle.com.au (myeecarlyle.com.au)
- ^ threeworlds.com.au (threeworlds.com.au)
- ^ visitnsw.com (visitnsw.com)
- ^ visitbyronbay.com (visitbyronbay.com)
- ^ byronbay.com (byronbay.com)
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