MELBOURNE STORIES | CHAPEL STREET’S RISE AND FALL as High Fashion Street of Dreams with Lesley Sharon Rosenthal

Chapel Street was a fashion street of dreams showcasing Australia’s funkiest boutiques selling the creations of our trendiest designers. A fashion community of hip retailers mentored ‘new talent’. It was buzzing and happening.

But in the early 2000s, it suffered a downfall.

How did Chapel Street rise from ordinary suburban shopping strip to national high fashion hotspot frequented by Australian and world famous celebrities? LESLEY SHARON ROSENTHAL will present the unique history of Chapel Street’s fashion and clothing history.

LESLEY SHARON ROSENTHAL is a writer and filmmaker who has a love of history. Her films Boutique Magnifique, and Chapel of Chic documenting the history of Collins Street's fashion through its high-end boutiques and Chapel Street’s history of fashion over a hundred years, drew large audiences to ACMI and the Astor Theatre. 

She has also written the book SCHMATTES: Stories of Fabulous Frocks, Funky Fashion and Flinders Lane (2005) documenting Flinders Lane’s colourful history of the rag trade. Lesley’s most recent talk at The Johnston Collection was PRAHRAN MARKET | A Journey From Temporary Outdoor Market To Chefs’ Gourmet Paradise.

early 20th Century Chapel Street, photograph courtesy of Stonnington History Centre