Melbourne has welcomed a remarkable addition to its creative landscape: a garment library where designers can rent vintage couture by the week, examine intricate construction up close, and draw inspiration from pieces that shaped fashion history. This Era Archive, founded by Australian fashion designer Hannah Canham, brings a continental concept Down Under for the first time, offering approximately 1,000 privately collected designer pieces spanning the 20th century to professionals and students alike.
From European Flea Markets to Melbourne Convent
The collection calls an unexpected home: a former nun’s bedroom within Melbourne’s historic Abbotsford Convent. Slate-blue Hermès silk jerseys from the 1970s hang beside the window, sharing wall space with pieces from Prada, Christian Dior, Schiaparelli, Margiela, Kenzo and Valentino. None are for sale. Every single garment exists solely for study, examination and creative exploration.
Canham, a graduate of RMIT’s prestigious fashion programme, spent over a decade accumulating this treasure trove while working internationally. She secured an internship at cult luxury label The Row in New York in 2014 before moving to Madrid, Berlin, London and Paris. It was in Europe’s capital cities, where designer archives form a standard part of the creative process, that her own collection truly flourished.
“They have the best flea market in Madrid,” Canham recalls. “It’s huge and within it there are permanent vintage stores that only open on Sundays. It sweeps this entire neighbourhood. I would go there every single Sunday for a long time.”
Cheaper real estate in Madrid allowed her to house the growing archive properly, and in 2018 she opened the collection to borrowers. After returning home to Melbourne with her collection in 2024, she reopened for commercial use in March, establishing what is believed to be Australia’s first fashion library.
The Tactile Learning Revolution
Two convictions drive the entire venture. First, that fashion is inherently self-referential and cyclical—designers must understand the past to shape the future. Second, that the finest design cannot truly be comprehended through photographs alone.
“I think you can only evolve some ideas by studying a piece in person,” explains Canham. “It needs to be seen, it needs to be looked inside, it needs to be put on a model. It’s the way it falls. It’s not something you can just copy from a screen.”
Viewings operate strictly by appointment. Due to the intimate space at Abbotsford, Canham curates just 100 pieces based on briefs provided by visiting designers, with the remainder warehoused nearby. Creative teams often bring fit models to try garments on, experiencing drape and proportion firsthand. For those unable to visit in person, a password-protected website details each piece, and international shipping remains available.
Rental periods start at one week and extend to several months, allowing creative teams to keep inspiration close throughout an entire season. Prices range from $100 to $600 monthly, making the archive accessible to emerging talent as well as established houses.
A Strict Code of Conduct
Despite her openness to the industry, Canham maintains firm boundaries. Stylists and photoshoots are strictly prohibited.
“They can end up being in the mud in the countryside and the intern’s the one handling the clothes and putting them back on hangers,” she explains. “And they don’t know, they think it was just picked up at a flea market.”
She handles all minor repairs, cleaning and storage personally, folding garments into boxes lined with acid-free paper. After rental periods conclude, items rest for a season before becoming available again. The care is meticulous, the reverence genuine.
Lesleigh Jermanus, creative director of Australian label Alémais, discovered the collection during Canham’s Madrid days. “It was such a dreamscape of a space—racks of incredible vintage pieces, beautiful objects and references everywhere you looked,” she remembers. “Hannah has such a well-trained eye for the unexpected—an unusual proportion, an interesting construction, a beautiful fabrication or a detail you might not notice at first.”
Europe-based RMIT alumnus Talisa Trantino, formerly head of jewellery and special projects at luxury house Loewe, has also accessed the archive. “Research is one of the most integral parts of my role and archival pieces are such an inspiring part of that process,” she says. “It’s a more 3D way of working. They’re really precious objects to study construction and fit on a body.”
The Art of the Hunt
Standing amid the racks in Abbotsford, Canham lifts a khaki Christian Dior double-breasted dress with an imposing, deep collar in heavy silk. “This is a favourite of mine; that was a struggle not to keep myself. It has this trench detail on the back,” she says, revealing the storm flap concealed at the rear.
Her hunting instincts are finely tuned. “I am somebody that sort of zooms in for something very subtle—really lovely buttons or pleats. Interesting construction is a passion too.” The archive favours pieces from the 1930s through 1970s, though exceptional finds occasionally disrupt the timeline.
“I found an immaculate Cerruti shantung silk suit once in a really dusty antique store in Paris,” she admits. “It was just not priced correctly. And I was like, ‘I need to get out of here as quickly as possible with this suit.'” The thrill of discovery remains inseparable from the archive’s purpose.
Why it Matters
This Era Archive represents something genuinely significant for Australian fashion: a bridge between our emerging creative talent and the historical knowledge that European designers take for granted. In an industry increasingly dominated by digital inspiration and fast turnover, Canham’s venture reminds us that understanding construction, experiencing fabric weight, and witnessing how a garment actually moves on a body remain irreplaceable skills. For Australian designers competing on the global stage, having local access to archival masterworks could reshape how we approach seasonal collections—fostering deeper creativity rather than surface-level imitation. The archive also positions Melbourne firmly on the map as a serious centre for fashion scholarship, attracting international attention and potentially encouraging more Australian talent to return rather than seek opportunities abroad.
