After a decade of dressing women in beautiful, natural fibre staples, Marle is stepping into the physical world. The label has opened its first store, tucked into Osborne Lane in Newmarket, marking the moment a business built from a laptop and a wholesale rack finally gets four walls of its own.
Newmarket has long been founder Juliet Souter’s own destination for shopping, so it made sense that this is where the store would be located. The space itself, with high ceilings and natural light, carries the same calm as the clothes. Working with interior designer Rufus Knight, the brief was closer to a gallery than a shop floor, somewhere built to hold collaborations with the makers, artisans and craftspeople who surround the label.
So much of what Marle does, the weight of a fabric, the way a piece moves on the body, has always been difficult to translate through a screen. A store closes that gap, letting customers feel the fibres and build full looks in person for the first time.
It also marks a shift in how Souter designs. After years shaped largely around wholesale, she now has room to make pieces for the Marle customer specifically, without loosening a commitment to natural fibres that only grows harder to keep.
Below, Souter walks us through the brief, the hardest part of going from wholesale to retail, and what she’s proudest of after ten years in business.
What was the moment you knew Marle needed its own four walls, rather than living inside other people’s stores?
Up until about 18 months ago, I never really imagined Marle having its own store. But over time, my thinking started to shift. I became increasingly aware that there was only so much of the brand we could communicate online. So much of what we make is about how a piece feels and the way it sits on the body, and some of that inevitably gets lost digitally. At the same time, I was thinking a lot about how much we’re all craving genuine connection and experiences that bring people together. A store began to feel like an opportunity to bring the world of Marle to life in a more complete way. It could be a place to experience the collection in its entirety, while also bringing together the people and creative relationships that surround the brand. After more than a decade in business, it started to feel like the right time. And then the right space became available, which made the decision feel very natural.
Why Osborne Lane, and why Newmarket over other Auckland pockets? What did the location need to say about the brand before you’d even hung a garment?
Newmarket felt like a natural fit. It’s always been somewhere I’d shop when I was intentionally looking for something specific, and I think it has cultivated a very considered shopper. Beyond that, the space itself felt completely aligned with the brand. It has beautiful natural light and high ceilings, qualities I’m naturally drawn to because they create a sense of calm and openness.
What did you hand Rufus Knight on day one? A mood board, a single word, a piece of furniture you loved?
Working with natural materials was a given. Beyond that, the brief to Rufus was to create something that felt more like a gallery than a traditional retail space. We wanted somewhere that could foster collaborations with different makers, artisans and craftspeople, giving us the opportunity to showcase their work alongside our own.
Stockists show a curated slice of Marle. What can a full store say about the brand that a rack in someone else’s shop never could?
Beyond the garments, there’s a whole story and world behind a brand that simply can’t be conveyed on a rack. Having our own retail space allows people to experience that world in its entirety. For us, it also means we can present each collection as it was intended to be seen, which we’ve never been able to do before. Our customers often purchase multiple pieces or complete looks online because they have access to the full collection, so having a physical store gives them that same opportunity – to experience every piece, feel the different natural fibres, try everything on and create their own looks.
What’s been the hardest part of this process, the bit nobody warns you about when you go from wholesale to retail?
How consuming it is, and just how many small decisions need to be made. It’s made even more challenging because I can’t simply pop into the store whenever I need to. I try to come up from Mount Maunganui as often as I can to stay close to the project, but I’m still making a lot of decisions remotely. It’s definitely taught me to trust my instincts.
Beyond the clothes, what will people feel, hear or smell in that space that tells them they’re in a Marle world?
They’ll experience all the subtle textures that come from working exclusively with natural fibres. That tactile quality is something that has always been central to Marle. There will also be curated playlists that people will be able to listen to beyond the store, and we’re working on a signature fragrance, which I’m really excited about. But ultimately, it’s the layering of texture throughout the space that I hope people notice most.
Is there one design element in the store that isn’t strictly commercial but you decided to keep in anyway?
A big focus has been creating an ever-evolving space where we can work with and celebrate other creators, craftspeople and artists. I also want it to be a place of discovery for our customers – somewhere that isn’t exclusively about Marle. That idea of creating a richer experience beyond retail is what excites me most.
Now that you have your own space, will anything about how you design or produce the collections shift, knowing there’s a physical home for it?
We’ve always been incredibly dedicated to our wholesale partners, so our collections have naturally been designed with them in mind. Having our own retail space gives us a different opportunity to also focus on the Marle customer and what feels right for us as a brand. Our wholesale relationships will continue to be just as important, but we’ll now have the freedom to create pieces that may not always suit wholesale, yet make perfect sense for our direct-to-consumer business. It also opens up the opportunity to offer more exclusive pieces, something we’ve already started doing online with a really positive response. For the first time, I think our customers will begin to see even more of who we are as a brand.
Looking back at everything that’s led to this store, what are you proudest of?
Our unwavering commitment to natural fibres. It’s one of the biggest challenges in our business because it’s becoming increasingly difficult to work exclusively with natural fibres. It would have been much easier to introduce synthetic blends over the years, but that has never felt right to me. The way natural fibres look, feel and wear is so important to the integrity of the garments. Beyond that, I’m incredibly proud of the team we’ve built. I feel very lucky to work alongside them every day. They’re the reason we’ve been able to grow the way we have, and the reason we’re able to keep evolving. It still feels like there’s so much ahead of us, and that’s incredibly exciting. This next chapter almost feels like a fresh beginning for Marle.
The Marle store officially opens its doors on Thursday 1 October in Newmarket.
Imagery: Supplied.
