From the moment you walk into Elizabeth Bay’s bloodorange boutique, you know you’re stepping into luxury well before you even get a chance to sift through the racks. The shop has mastered the art of ambience, an element which can at times be as important to a boutique as what is stocked inside it.

Low lights and aromatherapy candles exude a sense of elegance, while the floor-to-ceiling mirrors provide the space with a depth that would be otherwise impossible. When you do start to sift through the racks, it is at once evident that the interior’s stark minimalism is the perfect complement to the refined sophistication inherent within the shop’s labels themselves. 

With a selection of Alexander Wang sitting prettily at the head of the boutique, owner and buyer Loren Abood has cleverly set the store’s direction in choosing a hero label that belongs to one of the world’s hottest designers of the moment. It amplifies the rest of the brands in stock, which have clearly been chosen with careful precision and harmony in mind. Fellow international brands APC, K Jacques and Me&Ro sit alongside local collections by Lover, Therese Rawsthorne, Karla Spetic, Gary Bigeni, Bassike, Dress Up, MANIAMANIA and up and coming jeweler The Butcher’s Daughter.

The shop is by no means large, but Abood’s eye is enough to prove that a quality selection and an impressive shop identity are the winning points in the game of retail – which is why bloodorange consistently deserves its champion status.