New name, familiar face: The brand joining the race to dress middle Australia

There was a time, before the Kardashians and “naked dresses”, when the raciest thing in fashion was French Connection’s famous “fcuk” logo.

But times change, and the Australian company that has held the distribution rights for the British brand for 25 years is taking it in a new direction, relaunching the label as Unison, a nod to its open-minded approach to gendered clothing.

The architects of the brand – the Peter Lew-owned Brandbank Group – say Unison, which launches in August, will offer the same core staples as French Connection, as well as “a real premium fashion flavour”.

“Establishing a new brand in place of French Connection means we can be more responsive to the Australian customer … [and offer] a superior product range,” says Peter Halkett, who started as Brandbank Group’s chief executive last week.

Halkett, a retail veteran who led outdoors brand Kathmandu during the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, agrees launching a new brand in the current climate is a gamble. “We know there’s risk going from a well-known brand to a new brand name,” he says. “But we look at what’s best five years, 10 years down the track.”

Rebrands are common in fashion. Just last week, the heritage brand Paco Rabanne announced it was shortening its name to Rabanne. And locally, in 2020, Rebecca Klodinsky changed the name of her Australian swimwear brand Frankii Swim to IIXIIST (pronounced “exist”) after similarly named brands popped up overseas.

The 51-year-old French Connection label was sold in 2021 to new owners, and Halkett says now is the time to discontinue the Australian distribution deal. Though, he stresses, French Connection may continue in Australia through another distribution network.

Although French Connection Australia had its own design team, there were concerns the new owners may have wanted to tighten the reins, meaning the rebrand to Unison felt right. “Their ideas may have made it more restrictive,” Halkett says.