I meet Lisa Gorman inside kikki.K’s new retail store in Fitzroy, in the heart of Melbourne’s cosmopolitan inner north. A vintage workshop bench greets you on arrival – it feels more co-working space than retail – and it’s where they’ll host masterclasses, the first being a sketch series inspired by a calligraphy book that Gorman’s father gave her when she was eight years old.
A cash register anchors the lifestyle and stationery brand’s space in a nod to preserve the past, while a moss-green cork floor screams of her love of ’80s decor. There’s a lived-in, homely feel here: a space where Gorman invites you to linger longer. Oh, and the green racks are the same shade as her Laminex kitchen at home, while oranges and browns in the retail space also show her allegiance to bygone eras.
Kikki.K’s Lisa Gorman: “Heading up the rejuvenation of a known and existing brand nowadays requires a very different approach than what was required to start a label in the ’90s.”Peter Tarasiuk
You’ll find journals, pens, and mix-and-match covers on display, but garments also feature throughout: pops of lemon-coloured denim, shrub-green jeans and hard-yakka blue tones are curated alongside boxy knits, shirts and jackets that show us Gorman the fashion designer, version 2.0, is back.
Gorman has been kikki.K’s creative director for three years now and setting up shop on Gertrude Street is the latest move under her watch. It’s a role she came to after leaving her eponymous brand in 2021, her signature bright prints having established her as one of Australia’s most popular fashion designers.
During her tenure, Gorman has doubled down on kikki.K’s distinctive stationery, developed its travel accessories and introduced some fashion into the mix. Now, she’s hoping to tap into the love of neighbourhood shopping with kikki.K’s first foray into the high street – a notable shift from shopping centres, where the brand’s outlets have long resided.
Gorman outside kikki.K’s first “high street” shop.Peter Tarasiuk
Gorman has been instrumental in shaping the look and feel of the new retail space. Fitzroy is familiar stomping ground for Gorman, who has lived in the neighbourhood for 20 years with her husband, Dean Angelucci – a mid-century furniture dealer who owns a store around the corner on Smith Street – and their two daughters, now aged 17 and 20.
Wearing a cinnamon jumpsuit that she designed (it’ll be available in-store from August), Gorman says the decision to join the high street was not accidental timing; there have been many discussions around how to grow a brand and introduce new fans at a time when brand loyalty is dwindling.
“The focus on community and localised shopping is what we’re about,” says Gorman. “While shopping centres are a really important part of retail in Australia, and have been for the best part of 30 to 40 years, there’s a shift happening in the way people shop. Gertrude Street felt like the spot to move into and give this a go.
“Fitzroy is where I live, work and have traded over the years, so I understand the area and enjoy the product mix in this street. This felt really homely for us. It’s popular with locals and tourists, it has a mix of independent designer labels, such as from my best friend Megan Park to Northside Records; it’s a nostalgia trip for me. It’s a textured street that made sense to be part of.”
Gorman (at right) with a model at the 2006 Australian Fashion Week.AAP
Fashion has quietly found its place in kikki.K under Gorman, but it’s less about high volume; it feels more like the Benetton era of the 1980 and 1990s. “We’re not about putting out a new collection every four weeks and being stuck in the fashion cycle,” Gorman says. “That’s not useful anymore; people are focusing on building a wardrobe that lasts longer.
“I’m inspired by nostalgic patterns, such as the classic bandanna or a simple plaid. I am also bringing coloured denim back. This reminds me of growing up in the ’80s. There are barrel jean shapes, cropped oversized denim jackets and patching – it’s an ode to the time that reminds me of my childhood.”
Lisa Gorman has added colourful apparel to kikki.K’s range. “I’m inspired by nostalgic patterns,” she says.@kikki.k/Instagram
That childhood was spent in the Victorian coastal town of Warrnambool. Gorman is the eldest of four daughters, and she went on to become a nurse before becoming a fashion designer. She followed in the footsteps of her late father, Brian, who went back to TAFE to study English when she was in high school. (English was one of the requirements needed for him to become a nurse.) He had left school at 14 to go to work to help support his mum and siblings.
Gorman’s maternal relatives worked at Warrnambool’s Fletcher Jones: her grandfather was the company’s accountant while her mother, Jane, and aunts all worked on the department’s shop floor. Fabric swatches became a part-time obsession; the warp and weft would inspire her own solo exhibition, Fluorescence, held at Warrnambool Art Gallery three years ago.
As a child, Gorman loved sewing clothes for her Barbie dolls with her sisters. They’d fill Tupperware bowls with hand-sewn rah-rah (ruffled, tiered) skirts and boob-tube tops for their imaginary poolside Barbie runway shows. She also spent hours at the kitchen table tracing calligraphy.
“I am still quite analogue myself,” Gorman says. “I don’t use the Adobe suite. I still sketch, and it goes back to my time as a kid when I just loved that feeling of drawing.”
Gorman arrived in Melbourne in the 1990s to start work as a nurse at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. One day, strolling through the city after work, wearing her nursing whites and dreaming about fashion, she stumbled upon a sign in the window of the Mariana Hardwick bridal store on Bourke Street.
“They were looking for two trainees,” she says. “What drew me in was the sheer scale and architecture of the [wedding] dresses, and the hours, thought and hand-finishing touches put into those sculptural pieces. I walked in, had a good chat with Mariana and got the job.”
Gorman ultimately left nursing, but says her experiences at the time have stayed with her. “When I was 18, I was looking after a terminally ill girl of the same age who was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer,” Gorman says. “One day, she asked me to cut off her long hair and I remember sitting at the end of her bed and thinking, this woman is my age – it didn’t feel right. It was really eye-opening for me.
‘I’ve never been the type of person to let go of opportunities, so saying yes to this job felt right.’
Lisa Gorman
“It was the first time I’d ever cared for someone my age that had a life that was about to be shortened. That moment gave me perspective like nothing else and that has always stuck with me. What I saw and experienced gave me such a level head when it came to the fashion industry. It kept everything in perspective and served me well in life.”
Gorman is adamant that letter-writing is not dead, and neither is keeping a journal – they’re both part of the increasing appreciation for slowing down and finding the analogue element in an age of digital fatigue. “People are returning to writing things down, so there’s still 100 per cent a place for paper in our society,” says Gorman. “But the value around paper is changing and we’d be fools not to realise that.
“In this digital age, a quality notebook and pen are viewed almost as luxury items. It’s the time, thought and permanency that stationery can provide that I feel is the luxury in paper these days, and without it carrying a luxury price tag – at least not at kikki.K. The value is in what it provides to you, rather than what it costs you to buy.”
Despite coming from the era of Australian fashion that gave us high-octane labels such as Sass \& Bide and Zimmermann, Gorman has always been an advocate for applying a more measured pace to work and life. In her 20s, a two-week visit to New York turned into a stay that lasted a few years while she took on a number of jobs.
Meanwhile, she says kikki.K’s DNA, which lies in its heritage of quality stationery, is firmly staying put. She’s well versed in running a business, having done so for 21 years, and has quietly found her feet at the helm of kikki.K, which is celebrating 25 years of operation after being bought out from voluntary administration in 2020.
“Heading up the rejuvenation of a known and existing brand nowadays requires a very different approach than what was required to start a label in the ’90s,” Gorman says. “But I’m coming in as an experienced designer, and with a confidence and understanding of the business side that is much better than I had when I was younger.
“I’ve never been the type of person to let go of opportunities, so saying yes to this job felt right. And I love being around people; I love working with a team – it’s what gets me through.”
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Jane Rocca is a regular contributor to Sunday Life Magazine, Executive Style, The Age EG, columnist and features writer at Domain Review, Domain Living’s Personal Space page. She is a published author of four books.Connect via X or email.