Chadstone
RoundChadstone
Moving beyond the fashion capital
Truly great cities promise endless possibility. The choreography of chance and the infinite interplay between people and place mean that each visit, each day, each hour might deliver something new and unexpected.
In 2019, Vicinity defined a new vision for Chadstone – Australia’s largest shopping centre. The ambition was bold: to reposition Chadstone as a city, not a just a retail destination.
Georges Antoni, photography
Tiana Koutsis, cinematography
Nicky Murphy, cinematography
Kate Darvill, stylist
Peter Beard, hair and makeup
Camille Allen, content videography
Kane Ikin, music
NewGlyph, type design
To truly inhabit the role of a civic institution
More than that, though, is the fact that more people than ever are making their way to this emerging city. In the last quarter of FY2025, Chadstone’s visitation was up 36 percent compared with the same period in the prior year.
Beyond the shopping cart
To truly inhabit the role of a civic institution, Chadstone needed to add depth and dimension to its offering. Evolving beyond their ‘fashion capital’ identity to become a brand fit for the future. Internally, this transition was spearheaded by architect and design manager David Waldren and his team.
Central to the transformation were the addition of two new precincts, consciously designed to expand the destination’s offer and scope. First, with the launch of The Social Quarter, followed by The Market Pavilion in 2025, an indoor market featuring Melbourne’s best grocers and providores. These changes added depth and diversity to Chadstone, positioning it not just as a world-class retail destination but as a vibrant choice for dining, entertainment and fresh food.
For each of these initiatives, we defined a precinct strategy alongside naming, visual and verbal identities, phased launch campaigns and ongoing narrative content to attract new and diverse audiences to Chadstone, designed with intention and care to win over CBD-centric visitors who historically haven’t seen the centre as a destination relevant to their needs and desires. Throughout this activity, we were cognisant of the centre's larger strategic journey and they key role these offerings would play within the broader context of the Chadstone brand.
Above: Chadstone lorem ipsum
Below: Chadstone lorem ipsum
“We created a wordmark and design system that could speak to a plurality of experiences, from fashion to place to hospitality. In short, a wordmark fit for a city.”
Chadstone icon development
Designing a new era for an icon
Working on a brand with such equity and recognition among the public poses a specific challenge. While the reasons for change on the client-side may be well established, the public audience isn’t privy to these conversations and can therefore experience any degree of change as an affront to their understanding of – and relationship with – a brand.
When it came to Chadstone’s wordmark, our approach favoured evolution rather than revolution. Born in a print-centric era when fashion houses and publications favoured high-contrast serifs (think 'Vogue' or Polo Ralph Lauren), it no longer fit Chadstone’s ever-expanding scope of experience. Similarly, new digital forms and formats required a flexibility and scalability absent from the existing wordmark.
Our design solution was respectful of the brand’s legacy that still solved the associated challenges. To that end, we created a wordmark and design system that could speak to a plurality of experiences, from fashion to place to hospitality. In short, a wordmark fit for a city.
'A Life Less Ordinary' brand campaign
'A Life Less Ordinary' brand campaign
“This campaign marked a defining moment in Chadstone’s history, a clear demarcation between yesterday’s brand – which the centre had outgrown – and the Chadstone of the future, clear-eyed, multidimensional and forever evolving.”
– Attribution
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