By Amber R in Fashion — 27 Sep 2026

July opens its biggest store at Melbourne's QV, and its last in Australia

Travel brand July has opened a 250-square-metre flagship at QV in Melbourne, complete with terrazzo floors and hand-painted frescoes. It says it is the last store it will build in Australia.

July's new QV flagship in Melbourne. Image: July

Melbourne luggage and travel brand July has opened its biggest store yet, a flagship of more than 250 square metres at QV in the Melbourne CBD. The brand says it is also the last store it will build in Australia, as it turns its attention to growth overseas, which makes this space something of a full stop on its local retail rollout.

A store built like a piazza

The new flagship replaces a much smaller QV shop, growing from around 80 square metres to more than 250. It was designed by Melbourne studio In Addition and is laid out as three interconnected chambers, which Inside Retail describes as inspired by a European piazza.

Interior of July's QV flagship store showing marble and terracotta finishes — The first chamber of July's QV flagship. Image: July

The materials list is unusually rich for a luggage store: hand-poured terrazzo and mosaic flooring, Italian and veined marble, terracotta tiling, Moroccan tadelakt plaster, walnut burr seating, forest green velvet walls, brass wall sconces, leather display tables and timber furnishings. Overhead, Sydney artist George Raftopolous has hand-painted ceiling frescoes.

Architect Ana Ćalić McLean told Broadsheet that every element is "slightly bull-nosed or rounded" and that "there's probably not a 90-degree angle in the whole space." Nick Karas of Trust Projects told Ragtrader: "There are very few standard elements anywhere in the space."

What is inside

The store carries July's full range of suitcases, bags and travel accessories, and at opening it also previewed the brand's upcoming Endless Summer collection. Recent product launches include CaseSafe, which July markets as the world's first suitcase with a built-in tracker, and the Capsule Carry On Pro.

Walnut burr seating at the centre of July's QV flagship store — Handcrafted walnut burr seating at the centre of the store. Image: July

The last Australian store

The flagship brings July's Australian network to 15 stores. From here, the focus shifts offshore: the brand already has wholesale partnerships covering 20 overseas locations across Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, mainland China and Korea.

"It's the beginning of our next chapter," co-founder Athan Didaskalou said. "As we take July into more markets around the world, we wanted to leave Australia with something that genuinely represents who we are."

Didaskalou told Broadsheet the brand wants each store to feel tied to place: "We wanted to have each store represent a city or a moment of travel."

Why it matters

July already runs 14 other Australian stores, and the decision to finish its local rollout with a destination store rather than another standard shopfront says a lot about where Australian retail is heading. For Melbourne shoppers, it is also one of the more considered new retail interiors in the CBD this year, and worth a look even if you are not in the market for a new suitcase.