Finesse (previously known as Sole Finesse) was founded in 2015 by Murata Prajumas, who saw a gap in the market for women's sneakers in Australia, prompting her to create a space dedicated to meeting that need. Finesse was launched as an online-only, female-only, sneaker boutique and it's quickly become a golden nugget for female fashion. The store, which is now just called 'Finesse' enables women (and now men too... we'll explain later on) to cop the most exclusive sneaker releases from their favourite sports and streetwear brands in their own sizes (US 5W – US 10W).

Finesse is notably the only 'online-only' business in the country to ever score wholesale contracts with major sportswear brands such as Nike, Jordan, Adidas, Reebok, Asics, Vans and New Balance. Basically, they became an official retailer (which is extremely difficult), whilst not having a physical bricks-and-mortar location when they first started out. Nicely done Murata!

Finesse's First Bricks-and Mortar Store: Their old 'For The Honey's' slogan decorated on their first store in Melbourne.

Murata must've given them a compelling pitch, as established sneaker brands are notoriously strict on who they work with. Traditionally, when applying to offer a brand in your shop, your store needs to have a good reputation, and at least a few years in the business as a minimum requirement. So to think that Prajumas (am I weird for wanting to say Pyjamas?) secured these deals in such a short space of time is seriously impressive. Brands never usually offer wholesale contracts for online-only (ecommerce) stores for a variety of reasons. The main reason being: it just creates more competition for themselves in the digital landscape, and they would rather just use their own D2C (Direct-to-Consumer) avenue. But I guess they gave Sole Finesse the exemption card, considering Murata's passion, vision, purpose and USP. They believed in Murata, and she certainly didn't let them down, as a few years after the 'official online retailer' milestone, Finesse opened up a store in Melbourne in 2018. More recently, they've moved spots (they're still in Melbourne), and their new shop is small, but it certainly packs a punch. After all, great things do come in small packages.

Their new bricks-and-mortar: this corner-store in Melbourne may be smaller than their first, but it's also more cosy, and packs more flavour than the last too!

Finesse retails the most exclusive sneakers on the market (Tier Zero), but uniquely, only in women's sizes (US 5W - 10W). Because men are the majority of the streetwear sneaker market, this 'all-womens' store concept was definitely a huge risk in itself. In recent years, Finesse has struggled to gain real traction compared to many of its competitors because of its positioning in the market. There is no denying that their initial offering is incredibly niche, and their target market is, well... tiny (but growing!). The smaller sizes that were catered to women; their main focus, have been sitting like bricks on shelves, whilst the bigger sizes tend to sell out very quickly. Yes – some women have bigger feet of course, but this phenomenon is primarily thanks to men shopping online, who happen to have smaller feet, and can fit the larger female sizes (such as US 7, US 8, and US 9). This means that a huge chunk of the store's inventory is constantly sitting on shelves, or on sale, mainly due to the lack of local female demand and support. The accessibility is certainly there for women; it's just whether the women want to take that opportunity to embrace the streetwear and sneaker culture, just like the men have been doing for decades.

Due to the above factor, along with the recent economic downturn and people not spending their money, Murata has been forced to adapt, pivot and reinvent. She had to rethink her business entirely in order to keep the doors open. MPJ aimed to offer products to a more diverse target market, in order to generate more traffic and sales. In this case, the ambitious idea of 'a retail sneaker store for women' just doesn't have enough demand at this point in time. They now offer products in more sizes, along with unisex colourways that appeal to men. Their colour theme has changed from light pink, to a minimalistic white and black, and their 'for the honeys', to 'for everyone – yes, even the blokes too' (this isn't actually their slogan, we just made that up). Despite this change, hopefully we see continued progression in the womens department. This kind of innovative entrepreneurship and female empowerment should be praised and encouraged, hence why I'm talking about it.

As I said before, Finesse is a 'Tier Zero' Nike partner, which means they are one of the few retail boutiques in the country that retail the most coveted sneakers from Nike and Jordan. Finesse not only fulfils a need for women's sneakers, but also represents a dream come true for Prajumas, a proud female sneakerhead.

Here is an example of what 'Tier Zero' retailers get to drop in-store. This pair being the Air Jordan 1 Retro OG Low X Travis Scott 'Canary', a.k.a one of the most exclusive sneaker releases of the year. This sneaker dropped in an online raffle recently at Finesse, and it's only right considering the colourway is exclusively for women.

Of the 14 independently-owned streetwear and sneaker retail stores in Australia, Murata is the only female founder and owner of an independently-owned retail sneaker store, which makes it a measly 1/14 ratio alone. The women still have some catching up to do, but Murata is proudly leading the charge to ensure women have a solid place in the streetwear scene.

Owner and Founder of Womens-only sneaker boutique 'Finesse' in Melbourne. Seems Like MPJ is a huge fan of Nike Air Max 90's! Image courtesy of Snobess.

It's time to spread that passion for sneakers to all women around the country, because more participation and representation is needed. This boutique offers a curated selection of shoes for everyone – from simple, everyday icons like the Old Skool Vans, Reebok Classic and New Balance 550, to highly exclusive Jordan's such as the Jordan 1 Retro High, and AJ4. With its sleek, 'less-is-more' interior, and expertly curated product range, Finesse sets the standard for sophistication in streetwear sneakers for women.

Finesse Sneaker Store owner Murata Prajumas. Image courtesy of Fashion Journal.

If you're a girl, get behind Finesse and purchase your next pair of sneakers from them. Support your local small business – especially you lot that aren't men ;)

Location:

47 Derby Street, Collingwood, Naarm // Melbourne

Check out their store here on this link:

www.finessestore.com

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it :)

By Finn 'Lucci' Johnson

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