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Any designer knows that starting out can be nearly impossible. To be stocked in stores, to have your label featured in magazines, to have people even wear your clothes are not things that come easily to designers; especially those who are fresh out of fashion school. For every one who succeeds there are hundreds, even those with promise, tenacity and talent, who have to sit it out and opt for something more attainable.

Perched on the very top level of the Strand Arcade sits a pretty little shop by the name of The Graduate Store, home to some of fashion's brightest new stars. The beauty of this store is that it's fashion at it’s finest with beautifully designed and made pieces from five very talented East Sydney Tafe graduates who have refused to be left behind by Australia’s flourishing fashion industry. Rather than throwing in the towel after their final year of sleep deprivation, emotional meltdowns and overdrawn bank accounts, these five talented and hopeful young designers joined forces to create The Graduate Store. More than a year on it still stands strong and is testament to the fact that fashion careers aren’t just born out of all things pretty and perky, but also hard work and lateral thinking.

The Graduate Store Spring Summer Preview

The fact that any given day you can walk in there, have a browse and be greeted by one of the very five designers themselves adds a certain charm to the store that is so often lost in others. It really isn’t very often that you can stand with the actual creators of the pieces you gush over and be able to chat with them, take their advice and feel their creativity. It’s a type of customer service that really can’t be bought and adds value to a piece in ways which only the owner can appreciate.

The Graduate Store is everything that is missing from the Sydney shopping experience; intimate, genuine and inspired.

The Graduate Store is Michael Lo Sordo, Catherine Maple-Brown, Karla Spetic, Karina Pires and Melissa Polynkova.