“Not just about clothes”: Inside Songs for the Mute’s Sydney flagship

Launched in 2010, Songs for the Mute has remained a fairly niche player in Australia’s fashion industry.

This, despite being available in some of the world’s most recognised retailers, such as Harrods and Selfridges, as well as having recently collaborated with Adidas.

Now,  Songs for the Mute is taking on the next phase of its growth with the launch of its first dedicated flagship store in Sydney. It also has its eye on growing its brand recognition.

Co-founder Melvin Tanaya told Inside Retail that the shopfront is the first opportunity the brand has had to tell its story in a holistic way. Until now, it has  been split across various wholesale deals, which have made it difficult to sell the overall brand identity. 

Tanaya hopes that this will now change.

“The store is not just about the clothes, it’s about the experience and what we deem important to the brand,” Tanaya said. 

“It’s not just about the clothing on a rack. We want people to come in and understand both the concept of the brand, and why we do what we do.”

What’s in a name

Songs for the Mute started as a side project for Tanaya and co-founder Lyna Ty. Tanaya was frustrated by the lack of clothing that suited him, so he reached out to Ty to help him design something to solve the issue.

The name, Songs for the Mute, arose  from Tanaya’s focus on creating more alternative – yet still fashion forward and attractive – products.

“People think the brand is very niche and not for them when they see it on the surface level, but when they come into the store and our staff guide them to the right pieces, I think people start to understand,” he said. 

“When you see [the customer’s]  face change when they realise they can pull off the clothes, it’s amazing.”

Experiential, experimental

As for the store’s layout, the brand has flipped the traditional design, with its change rooms acting as a free-standing focal point in the centre of the store, rather than a hidden spot at the back.

The idea, Tanaya said, is to keep the customer in the spotlight and make them feel special. The store has also been designed to allow people to come in and chat about the brand and its pieces, rather than a transactional space that’s only  there to sell products.

Plus, it will serve as a testbed for some of Ty’s more experimental pieces. For example, in the past she has considered a range of homewares, such as cushions and blankets, but due to the brand’s largely wholesale nature, she has found it difficult to implement. 

Now, with its own store, the brand can try new things and see how its dedicated customers react.

“It’s really [Ty’s] playground to test products,” Tanaya said. 

“She wants to do retail exclusive stuff that she hasn’t been able to do before, so there will be one-off collections and one-off products that will pop-up in store.”

Beyond new pieces, the brand has aspirations of more stores launched around the world, but only when they are ready to do so.

The next move

For Tanaya, retail and wholesale are two different beasts that require a lot of work to get right. 

And while the business has got its wholesale business running as a well-oiled machine, it still has a lot to learn about operating a physical space.

“For the next year or two we want to make sure that we know  [how to run a store],” he said. 

“We really want to make sure we understand it before we make the next move, but we do have plans to expand the retail program overseas. We’ve had a lot of interest internationally, but we’re only going to do it when we’re ready.”

The post “Not just about clothes”: Inside Songs for the Mute’s Sydney flagship appeared first on Inside Retail Australia.