Australian womenswear retailer Forever New lifted annual group turnover to approximately $400 million, driven by international store expansion across Asia, North America and the Middle East. Revenue outside its domestic home market now accounts for half of total group sales, up from an aggregate turnover of $270 million in fiscal 2019.
Group founder and chief executive Dipendra Goenka confirmed the figures as the Melbourne-based brand completed its twentieth year of trading. The business operates roughly 466 retail doors, concessions and outlets across 24 countries, managed alongside managing director Carolyn Mackenzie. Trading showed improved momentum across Australian stores in the second half of the year, while India, South Africa, Canada and the United Kingdom posted positive trading contributions.
Shifting revenue beyond domestic territory
For fashion retailers founded in Australia, crossing the $400 million threshold while generating half of that turnover overseas is an uncommon outcome. Mid-market apparel brands from Melbourne and Sydney frequently stumble when trying to duplicate local shopping mall formats offshore, caught out by opposing seasonal cadences, aggressive rent demands, and supply chain bottlenecks. Forever New counteracted those hazards by designing dual-hemisphere collections and relying on department store concessions before committing capital to full retail leases.
The commercial risk now sits in margin retention across overseas wholesale partnerships. Concession networks and digital platforms offer fast unit volume, but they extract steep commissions and restrict discounting flexibility when inventory builds up. Competitors targeting identical mid-market demographics have struggled to protect full-price sell-through rates across India and the Middle East, where local department operators command premium mall space and dictate floor productivity terms. The company must keep production volumes tightly matched to regional sell-through curves to avoid eroding margins.
Sourcing and seasonal coordination present an ongoing operational test. Running physical networks across both Northern and Southern hemispheres requires staggered factory bookings, separate fabric allocations, and split shipping schedules. Retailers that misjudge the volume balance between winter collections in Canada and summer deliveries in Australia face discounting stock before full margin realization takes place.
Broadening wardrobes beyond occasion dressing
Product mix adjustments run parallel to the geographic rebalancing. The company built its initial customer base around formal dresses and event wear, but commercial leadership is intentionally reallocating store space to everyday office wear, knitwear, jackets, tailored separates and casual apparel. Internal customer data showed that shoppers unfamiliar with the label still view it purely as an events destination, leaving regular wardrobe categories undersold.
Occasion dressing delivers high average transaction values but creates lumpy, seasonal foot traffic linked to spring racing and wedding calendars. Transitioning the range toward weekly office wear and casual layers increases repeat customer visits, providing steady store receipts across historically quiet months. Multi-brand department store partners such as Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s also demand steady replenishment rhythms that single-purpose party wear cannot sustain.
Format testing and the US standalone entry
North America serves as the immediate testing ground for the brand’s standalone store model outside its traditional Commonwealth footprint. Trading as Ever New in select international markets, the company launched a dedicated direct-to-consumer online store and a digital partnership with Bloomingdale’s in April 2026. Those platforms build upon existing Nordstrom concession counters and lead into the opening of the retailer’s first standalone American store, located in Texas.
Store formats under evaluation across global territories range from large flagship units down to compact, curated boutiques intended to maximise revenue per square metre. Management maintains that rapid footprint additions will remain secondary to unit profitability. As Goenka stated:
“The objective is not to chase a large store count immediately, but to establish a profitable and scalable foundation for the next phase of growth”
Pruning mature stores for network productivity
Founded in Melbourne in 2006, Forever New expanded through regional shopping centres across Australia before opening stores in New Zealand, South Africa and India over the following decade. Group turnover stood at approximately $270 million in fiscal 2019, prior to pandemic trade interruptions that compelled store portfolio reviews and accelerated digital concessions. Marking its two-decade milestone on October 13 at The Cutaway in Barangaroo, Sydney, executive leadership outlined a three-year plan to reshape retail real estate.
Over the coming three-year period, management will review Australian locations to close shopfronts that do not meet store productivity benchmarks. That network trimming is intended to redirect working capital toward store additions in India, the Middle East and North America, where the initial trading numbers from the Texas opening will determine the pace of future standalone roll-outs.
