Sydney welcomes a dedicated space for contemporary menswear in Elizabeth Bay, Meanwhile – Photography by Meanwhile

Retail entrepreneurs Dion and Claire Cooper-Kovac should receive the Australian equivalent of the Légion d’honneur for their resolute services to the clothing industry. Not only have they constantly inspired a new jeunesse dorée generation about clothing aesthetics but exposed the wider public to the design of fashion creativity. They celebrate this year since 2002 the first inception of their first store titled ‘Our Spot’ with a distinguished new presence in Sydney’s East Elizabeth Bay called Meanwhile. The new inimitable space would not have been possible without a new business partner nor the adjacent space next to the salient women’s prêt-a-porter Bloodorange boutique that endured a 5-year non-residency.

Dion is 34 now but retains his brawny youth and perceptibly friendly nature. Since his first Our Sport retail venture, many of the brands he has chosen to present have received global press recognition. He and his partner Claire’s store concept was amongst the first (if not the first) to invariably challenge the perceptions of menswear and how it could be presented with a shopkeeper’s instinct. For years, the local categorisation of men’s clothing fitted into department stores and street/surt culture stores that neither identified an importance in men’s tailoring nor the basics in men’s attire. Seasonally, tribes of local residents flocking to Our Spot discovered what seem to have been made available in Europe indefinitely: the perfect black cashmere sweater with a flattering fit, indispensable men’s shirting in silky cotton fabrics, and ultra-nubby wool coats with cupro rayon lining. Our Spot at the time was not only precocious but captured the rare combination of Australian entrepreneurship and intelligent, astute aesthetics in fashion.

Our Spot’s acumen prickled other retail boutiques which had hoped to capture the same chemistry of what made it so arresting. New York men’s designer Robert Geller and Comme des Garcons emphasised the fashion dialogue of savoir faire and the construction of fabric where the neo-romantic shapes in linen and calf leather by the former and the twin eyed shaped hearts by Rei Kawakubo’s company.

As the global economy hampered Our Spot’s longevity, Dion explained, “I just want to embrace the local scene now and make the shop apart of the neighbourhood and sell clothes and other things that really sell well without too much fuss”. His mantra unaligned with what he started at Our Spot came to the realisation that whilst he offered a great European sensibility to his customers, he inevitably neglected an embrace of more local designers. Which is not to say he discounted Sally McDonald and Micah Hamdorf’s Rittenhouse brand, but the ensuing presence of Three Over One and Vanishing Elephant were pivotal reasons as to tailor One of a Kind for the local market. After all, it was an Australian store.

Not to tie down a grown man’s creative ambitions, nascent conversations began in 2010 with a possible new shop front in Elizabeth Bay. The residential seaside suburb had been home to Bloodorange, a venerable women’s prêt-a-porter boutique setup by Loren Abood. Unknowingly, the adjacent and abandoned space next door would become Dion’s next business venture and this time with a business partner. Tim Leckie, with a writing pedigree in the advertising and film industry in London explained, “I spent 9 years in London and during that times picked up some ideas regarding men’s retail that I thought would go over well in Sydney – which is still quite under catered for in my opinion. I met Dion through a mutual friend and it all happened from there. 12 months later, Meanwhile is up and running.”

Assigned to the architectural renovation was Sydney based architect Mandy Edge. A deluge of ambient images as Dion explains was sent to her to construct the store’s two-level interior a street level and basement both seamless and minimalist in detail. Grey slate concrete plastering in its unbrandished candor are softened by weltering pungent sage flowers on specially made metal steel counter tables by Nickolas Rogers and selectively positioned wooden plinths and sourced vintage furnishings dating from 1950’s. Interlinking the top and bottom level is a raw wooden staircase leading down to an illuminating warm glowing space characterized by bare brick surfaces, grey felt dressing rooms and ultimately, the silver steel railings dressed by tailored garments.

One commonality from all of Dion’s retail ventures is the customer and brand loyalty he has endured. He perfectly understands that whilst catering new brands for the local market is important, it cannot be eclipsed by the overwhelming patronage of his customers, some of which have shopped with him for more than 5 years. In Meanwhile, there is brand anonymity. Male customers will have the luxury to divulge in discovering texture and fabric rather than while labeling. The grammage and colour palette of an Italian Super 130’s wool suit and appliquéd cotton crew necks, the 1940’s colourways of buttoned linen shirts, workwear selvage denim or nubby wool ribbed sweaters that oozes with a sophisticated, well-dressed sensibility. Eventually, the oeuvre of some of the brands including Rag & Bone New York, Three Over One, Our Legacy 1980-81, Isaac Reina and Rittenhouse are too salivating to unexpress. Mandy Edge successfully encapsulated an architectural space reminiscent of a Scandinavian aesthetic but with the raw tones of Australian affability. One brand that Dion happily admits to count as a strong favourite is eponymous label Dana Lee. A Canadian New York based men’s designer who previously designed A-Z Collection, astutely ultilises manufacturing across America and Canada with some fabrications that have been similarly used by the U.S. Army. Further garments downstairs are from Australian label Jac and Jack, sumptuous leather accessories by Brenda Harvey and a range of tightly folded denim washes that could pair well with Italian Buttero shoes.

Store keepers Dion Kovac and Tim Leckie

“Nowadays price points is a big factor, and whilst it may not affect us so much in this area… but we want to embrace more local brands, and provide honest and authentic menswear”, Dion explains at his new store post-rapture of his store opening celebration. Faced with some stiff retail opposition, some of which also offer the brands Meanwhile carries, both Dion and his business Tim Leckie hold their own in terms of retail. With irrefutable self-belief, their plans on embarking for Paris mid-year to buy selections from esteemed British designer Margaret Howell and French denim label Bleu de Paname and the likelihood of future Parisian and Belgian men’s prêt-a-porter, Meanwhile won’t be neglecting burgeoning local designers but embracing a worldly-cultivation of clothing regardless of geographic location. Meanwhile, shouldn’t you visit the new men’s boutique?

Meanwhile - www.meanwhilestore.com