Milanese Appeal – Grace Brighton by Ilana Moses with Tali Roth Interior Design

Coinciding with 15 years in business, fashion and lifestyle boutique Grace has opened a captivating retail experience in Brighton. Designed by Grace Founder Ilana Moses in collaboration with Tali Roth Interior Design, the two-storey boutique is conceived as a fashion mecca for lovers of style.

As the third Grace boutique in Melbourne, Grace Brighton builds on Ilana’s ambition to create spaces that make visitors feel welcome, cared for, inspired and styled. Ilana sought to craft a textural and layered experience over the store’s two levels – an ode to Milan, combining sculpted forms, rich colour and thoughtful detail.

Curved, walnut-clad walls shroud sinuous stainless steel shelves, lending a sculpted presentation of Grace’s curated collection.

“Tali and I have known each other for some time and both spent years living in New York,” says Ilana. “It’s a city that can’t help but influence you and lend an international lens to one’s aesthetic.” Inspired by her favourite city from which to source runway, prêt-a-porter and accessory collections, Ilana sought to pursue a Milanese feel for the compact space – reinterpreted with a contemporary lens. Starting with the spatial planning, Tali Roth reveals, “we wanted to make sure the flow felt good and that we could get as much product into the space as possible without overwhelming it.”

In doing so, bespoke joinery became a key component, softening the building’s rectilinear footprint and carving engaging, dedicated moments of display and interaction. Curved, walnut-clad walls shroud sinuous stainless steel shelves, lending a sculpted presentation of Grace’s curated collection. The integration of triangulated seats “support the communal aspect of the upstairs accessories atelier,” explains Tali, while offering a lively injection of colour, mellowing against the store’s mirrored walls and aged brass accents. Robust, brass-lined jewellery units are countered by fine-turned timber totems anchoring the presentation of garments, while bespoke satin chrome hat hooks – designed by Tali and fabricated by Us from Space – create a playful gallery wall of headwear.

The store’s warm palladiana floors were “a labour of love,” recalls Tali, and wholly transformative in establishing a Milanese tone.

The store’s warm palladiana floors were “a labour of love,” recalls Tali, and wholly transformative in establishing a Milanese tone. “Antique, il palladiana floors from across Europe and specifically Milan, were a huge inspiration – populating both my and Ilana’s camera rolls,” Ilana says. Drawing on this technique, the duo sourced a variety of marble and travertine slabs, which were broken up on site to create organic pieces, scattered and laid by hand, then filled and honed. The result is a striking landscape of authentic natural hues, recalling the beauty of time-honoured Italian floors.

Interested in crafting a unique colour story for Grace, Ilana complemented the floor’s warmth with soft powdered blue in the fitting rooms – a hue drawn from one of her favourite Prada jackets. Mohair velvet curtains and plush carpets in shades of olive green create a playful harmony, offset by bespoke box plinths and satin chrome clothing rails. “Ilana is the master of colour,” declares Tali. “She was adamant for this pale blue to make an appearance,” and in this context, it truly sings.

A brutalist-inspired console, custom designed by the duo, takes pride of place on Grace’s lower level. Made by Studio Brand, the table’s sculptural timber legs, finished in citrus yellow pigment, are contrasted by a delicate glass top, maintaining a feeling of lightness. This striking centrepiece is accentuated by bespoke details and quirky handcrafted curiosities by local suppliers and makers, including glazed ceramic wall sconces by Sarah Nedovic Gaunt and exuberant folded brass wall lights by Clementine Maconachie. These thoughtful inflections allow the best parts of Ilana’s imagination to shine through.

Grace Brighton exemplifies a masterful use of colour, unexpectedly contrasting olive green and citrus yellow with powder blue.