For heritage brands, staying relevant in today’s fast-moving retail market can feel a lot like walking a tightrope.
However, for SABA, the 60-year-old Australian fashion label, relevance is not an option, it’s essential to keeping long-term customers loyal, and getting new ones coming through the doors.
General Manager Lucinda Grice Ross told B&T it all comes down to obsessing over your customer, and asking if what you’re doing as a brand actually serves them.
“When you lose touch with your customer, that’s when relevance starts to slip. Obsess over them, and your brand will endure,” she said.
Celebrating six decades of fashion, SABA has managed to remain a staple for loyal customers while attracting a new generation. For Grice Ross, the secret is a balance of timelessness and modern interpretation.
The brand’s DNA, Grice Ross explained, is rooted in sophistication, integrity, and consistency. “When you look back through our imagery from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, you see this timeless thread: quality, construction, strong lines. That hasn’t changed. That’s what keeps the brand relevant today.”
According to Grice Ross, SABA’s 60th anniversary offered an opportunity to reflect on this heritage.
She recalled a visit with founder Joe Saba and his wife, Marita: “We went through memorabilia, old carry bags, even a SABA Barbie. Seeing his pride and hearing the stories – it was heartwarming. It reinforced why quality and integrity are at the heart of everything we do.” Over 500 items from the archives have now been digitised and preserved with the State Library Victoria, ensuring the brand’s history is safeguarded for future generations.
Yet according to her, heritage alone isn’t enough in a market increasingly driven by trends, TikTok, and younger shoppers.
“Our job is to educate the customer too,” Grice Ross explained. “They need to understand that buying from SABA is an intelligent choice – it will last, it’s timeless, but still modern.”
Staying relevant doesn’t mean chasing trends blindly. Instead, SABA interprets culture through lifestyle insights. “It’s understanding our customer and how they live, and translating that into our designs in a way that feels authentic to the brand,” she says.
Black blazers, for example, are “styled to transition seamlessly from office to weekend” timeless pieces which she said evolve with the wearer’s life.
Quality and innovation are central to that promise. SABA invests in premium fabrics such as 100 per cent merino wool coats, cashmere blends, and travel-friendly Dharma fabrics that resist creasing – demonstrating that relevance is as much about function as style. “The proof is in the product,” said Grice Ross. “If you create clothing that moves with your customer through their life, relevance takes care of itself.”
Retail presence also plays a role. Over the past year, SABA undertook 16 retail projects, opening five new stores, refurbishing six, and redesigning key department store locations to ensure a consistent brand experience online and in-store. “Contemporary feeling is even more important in the retail environment,” she notes. “The product and the environment need to align with the brand’s DNA.”
