From Sydney to the world: Aussie fashion label Zimmermann opens first Singapore store

SINGAPORE – A woman walks into a Zimmermann store and finds no dress to her fancy. To co-founder Simone Zimmermann of said Australian brand, the scenario is as improbable, and comedic, as most of the jokes set up this way.

Allowing herself a chuckle, she says: “If you can’t find a dress in our stores, you’ve got to be searching for something very particular.”

The chief operating officer of the billion-dollar fashion label – Australia’s first – is the older sister of the brand’s creative director and co-founder Nicky Zimmermann, whose high femme sensibility is Zimmermann’s calling card.

Its signature dresses are often flowy and flouncy, ruffled, tiered or tulle-skirted, with interjections of monocolour numbers that break up the frou frou.

On Dec 9, 2025, Zimmermann opened its first South-east Asian boutique at Paragon in Orchard Road.

The seemingly belated launch, some 35 years after its founding in Sydney and 15 since its entry into the United States, had been in the pipeline since before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Says Simone in a video call with The Straits Times: “Singapore is a natural city for us. It’s a global, cosmopolitan place. There’s an expat population from many places in the world, some Australian but also from Europe and the US.

“We were excited when things lined up because it was an aspiration to open there.”

There was evidence that Zimmermann women were in abundance here too. The brand’s online store and home-grown retailer Club21 have been supplying a loyal local fan base for years with its dreamy, adult aesthetic. Pants are frequently flared, corsetry recurs and prints are fresco-like.

Simone draws a vivid portrait of the clientele: A woman who embraces her femininity, enjoys dressing for occasions and is a seasoned vacationer.

“Something that has developed in the last 20 years is the culture around holidays and destination dressing. We see through social channels that we have customers who plan their wardrobe day by day. It’s about what they can show their friends online.

“It’s what Nicky designs for. Our clients wear us to fun occasions, birthdays, weddings, parties and holidays.”

The brand’s clothes have been worn by Catherine, Princess of Wales; American pop star Beyonce; and American actress Katie Holmes.

The label, once known more for its resort and swimwear, now carries a full catalogue of suiting, denim, knitwear, shoes, bags, jewellery and coats. Its popular dresses tend to start from about $1,500, and can go over $5,000 for runway pieces.

Covid-19 delayed Zimmermann’s plans for Singapore, but things finally clicked into place when they found the Paragon unit, an appropriately luxe and client-friendly destination, says Simone, who declines to give her age.

Entering the new 146 sq m boutique on Level 2 is like stepping into the well-appointed home of a worldly woman. Wares are housed in rooms, as per Nicky’s preference. There are two for apparel and a lounge for shoes, complete with a vintage sofa and that urbane home staple, a Noguchi paper lamp. Niches in the walls are scattered throughout, like cupboards.

An international spread of art fills the walls. Australian work, like artist Clifford Thompson’s hanging ceramic dishes and painter Allan Hansen’s still life, sit alongside Lithuianian photographer Ugne Pouwell’s moody landscape and French artist Ida Colucci’s Cubist portrait of an unsmiling gent.

The floor is Palladiana terrazzo, punctuated with mosaic tiled thresholds at the edge of each room. Fresh flowers arrive weekly. When ST visited on Jan 14, the most eye-catching was a bunch of Hairy Balls Milkweed – a green fruit with fuzzy bristles – flown in from New Zealand.

These subtle details are unique to each store, says Simone.

Supercharged expansion

The brand is on a tear of new openings. It now runs 96 stores worldwide, double the 48 reported in September 2024.

Weeks after cutting the ribbon on Paragon, it opened its second South-east Asian outpost in Bangkok. Next, it is launching in Hong Kong.

The surge follows the 2023 acquisition of Zimmermann by private equity firm Advent International in a deal inked to fast-track expansion. The firm reportedly valued the Aussie brand at some US$1.15 billion (S$1.5 billion). The sisters retain minority share-holding.

What began with Nicky selling handmade dresses from a stall in Sydney’s Paddington Markets in 1991 is now a modest empire, spanning Australia, the US, Europe, Britain and, most recently, Asia and the Middle East.

The younger Zimmermann studied fashion design at East Sydney Technical College and, in the brand’s embryonic phase, sold clothes out of her parents’ garage in Sydney to friends and locals.

Simone, who had been living overseas, joined the brand slightly after its launch in 1991 to take care of the business aspect. The sisters had a growth plan then, but it was never so grandiose as the present, she says.

Early breakthroughs were organic. The first came when Zimmermann the label landed a two-page editorial in Vogue Australia, after a stylist discovered it at Paddington Markets, prompting orders from Australian boutiques.

The sisters opened their first store in the edgy neighbourhood of Darlinghurst soon after.

In 1996, the brand was one of nine labels that helped launch Australia’s Fashion Week. At that pivotal runway show, Nicky debuted a kind of haute swimwear that in colour and print matched the ready-to-wear clothes of the collection. The unorthodoxy paid off in sudden global attention and new stockists in the US and UK, says Simone.

Those inroads paved the way for Zimmermann’s first international store in Los Angeles, though that would not arrive till 2011. Australia was, by Simone’s own admission, an unlikely base for a fashion brand’s foundational years.

Operating from the periphery meant the brand was outside the industry’s immediate radar. “We were that label from the other side of the world,” she says.

But it also relieved them of the weight of global luxury brands that were too distant to serve as yardsticks. “It forced us to think differently and we were able to create our own DNA,” she adds. Runway-ready swimwear is a chief example.

Those domestic years would teach them about client service and what it means to run retail stores.

When momentum gathered in the US, Zimmermann opened a second head office in New York and, in 2014, began showing on the New York Fashion Week calendar, drawn to the city’s global perspective.

In 2022, the brand moved onto the Paris calendar – a more pointed pitch for a luxury position. The apex fashion capital now houses the label’s third head office and an atelier that works in line with the Sydney design room.

Says Simone: “The move was a personal aspiration for me and, for Nicky, creatively too. It is just traditionally the place for fashion.”

The brand’s new scale has confirmed its universal appeal. Its whip-snap entry into such distinct markets as China and the Middle East required few cultural adjustments.

The most complicated part is timing the release of collections to suit the seasons of each country, says Simone. The brand does not create specific collections for different regions, so the same Spring set might hit shelves in Australia during winter and in the warmer months in the Northern Hemisphere.

Modesty standards are the next consideration, though that goes only so far as carrying more swimwear in beachy Australia than Beijing, or more long sleeves in the Middle East.

Taste does not vary much across the globe either. “Really, we look for differences, but the best of the season are the bestsellers in every region. It’s usually the same top 10 everywhere.”

Australian identity

With design teams in Paris and stakes in nearly every continent, Zimmermann’s Aussie roots might not be immediately apparent. But there is a core part of the brand that definitely feels Australian, says Simone, who is based in Sydney.

Her sister regularly cites Australian media, childhood memories or even a certain quality of light as design inspiration. For Fall 2025, cult Australian film Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975) was the touchstone, prompting hand-drawn maps of the movie’s titular location on handkerchief hem dresses, and valentines – exchanged by the schoolgirls in the film – stitched into lace.

The connection is not always so literal. There are elements of sunniness, colour, joy and optimism in Zimmermann’s romantic prints and patterns that are part of how people perceive Australia, says Simone.

“We can’t help but be who we are,” she adds. Still, it is something she seems to be negotiating, as the brand teeters on worldwide cachet.

Finally, she lands on a truthful balance. “The fact that Nicky is Australian and lives in Australia flows into what she creates. But she’s much more than that as well. She’s global.”

Zimmermann is at 02-45/46/47 Paragon, 290 Orchard Road

Paragon of style

A slew of high fashion boutiques has in the last two years taken up residence in Paragon, buttressing its luxe mall positioning.

The Orchard Road shopping haven has seen the launch of four new duplex flagships. These are Bottega Veneta, Tom Ford and Balenciaga, as well as Italian brand Prada’s expansion from one floor to two.

It has also introduced cult names like French fashion house Maison Margiela, Zimmermann and, come February, German brand Jil Sander, to the Singapore market, as these brands open their first local boutiques in the mall.

Chirpy Italian brand Marni will also open its second local boutique in February, following its first in The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.

The mall marked its 25th anniversary in 2025. Ms Jaylyn Ong, managing director of Straits Retail Property Management Services, Paragon’s property manager, says: “We remain confident in luxury fashion as a core pillar of Paragon’s positioning, underpinned by Singapore’s role as a key regional shopping and wellness destination.

“As Paragon marks more than 25 years, we continue to evolve thoughtfully, refining our tenant mix and retail experience while staying true to our identity as a premier luxury mall.”

Here are three stores to check out.

Bottega Veneta

The Italian house known for its Intrecciato leather weave opened its Paragon duplex on Sept 1. In keeping with other stores worldwide, the 415 sq m boutique reflects the brand’s enduring connection to Italian craft and the north-eastern Veneto region, with modern updates.

Shelving, display units and mirrors are crafted from Italian walnut wood, a prized material. The store is also finished with textural terrazzo, a traditional Italian tiling technique often found in Venetian homes and palazzi. Accents of striking green marble are sprinkled throughout the store, as in the marble slabs that serve as window screens on the second floor.

Info: 01-48/48A and 02-50/51

Maison Margiela

Maison Margiela opened its first Singapore store in November 2025. The 2,200 sq ft space embodies the maison’s philosophy of anonymity and non-conformity, expressed through a clean, minimalist design language.

It presents the full range of men’s and women’s ready-to-wear collections, accessories, footwear, small leather goods, jewellery and fragrances. Travertine marble defines the space, juxtaposed against the black epoxy panels found in the fitting rooms.

Info: 02-43/44

Balenciaga

The Spanish luxury fashion brand opened its 932 sq m duplex at Paragon in April 2025. It stocks the latest collections of men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, footwear, bags, jewellery, eyewear and accessories.

The store’s exterior is defined by a monumental glass facade overlooking Orchard Road that washes the space in natural light. The interior design follows the house’s Raw Architecture concept, an experiential approach that repurposes existing structural components, minimises the use of virgin materials and emphasises natural lighting.

The store also houses a private room for Very Important Clients, its first here. It is modelled after the fitting rooms in the house’s couture store at 10 Avenue George V in Paris.

Info: 01-01