FASHION: Provider
Featured in Freestyle Volume 05 2008. Story by Cristian Diaz. Photography by John Churchill.
Definition: Pro-vid-er: One who provides, furnishes, or supplies; one who procures what is wanted.
Chris and Melanie are the Mary and Joseph of Melbourne’s underground sneaker scene with their baby Jesus aptly named ‘Provider’, blessing many inimitable followers with holy kicks and fashion-ware since its initial creation in the Melbourne suburb of Prahran in 2004.
Born from a hybrid of the couples’ industry knowledge, retail experience and “lets go for it and f$%k the consequences” attitude, Provider has done exactly what its definition claims, provide. Provide the Melbourne faithful with a plush temple that houses the latest in eclectic gear with labels that include; Nike, VANS, Alife, Keep, Undefeated, Stussy Deluxe, Mishka, Edwin, The Hundreds, Reigning Champ, PAM and Medicom. And due to their original gentlemen’s club store overloading, the team was forced to expand onto a second venture in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD in 2007. Designed by the young team from Herbert+Mason Architects, the stores’ thesis has evolved from its Fitzroy pub and smoking jackets theme to a so fresh and so clean intermingle of Norwegian sauna and retro hotel foyer.
Chris’s retail promiscuity from the age of 16 has created the solid backbone of success for the store. Applying all his attained experience from working in underground Melbourne skate shops, to making the right contacts with the suits at corporate Nike, to being exposed with a plethora of foot ware selection during his time in London-based kick stores, Chris always knew he could provide the seal for alternative choice in the rapidly leaking Australian sneaker industry.
“I remember the frustration at a younger age when I would see someone with cool trainers and I’d ask where they got em’ from, the answer 9 times out of 10 would be ‘my parents brought em’ back from da States or somewhere in Europe.’ I always knew the product was available, it’s just that no one was selling it over here but I clearly saw the gap when I came back from my time in London, so I just saw an opportunity and said f%$ it, if worst comes to worst I’ll just go bust!”
Whilst co-owner and partner Melanie also applies the emphasis on a positive team environment as she handles all the graphic design and marketing material for both stores, “For us it’s really not work, we wake up every morning and pick out new shoes and clothes for the store, meet creative people and keep making the dream happen everyday in a clean open space that we love to be in.”
Now a force within the kicks monopoly, Provider’s phones go into Calcutta call-centre mode every time Pharrell Williams or Kanye West, both of which are regular customers when they come down to oz, drop their new music videos that show a split second of limited edition foot ware. This is mainly due to Provider’s Nike Tier 0 account which in exclusivity terms means there are only 18 stores worldwide that carry this specific product, so rest a sure that Provider’s disciples of workers also know their bible of product inside out.
A basilica of affirmation for the faithful in product and quality, Provider’s mission remains as humble and directed as ever, to keep providing only the best available whilst always considering the pilgrims that live for their New Testament. “We will never be the ‘20 stores across Australia store’, there’s plenty of other ways to grow the business and that's not it for us, it’s just not what we want to do, we have always been about the customer and ‘hands on’ approach.”
To find out more about Provider (Melbourne, Australia), visit www.provider.com.au
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