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Accent’s new activewear brand Exie opens two stores in Melbourne

Carrie LaFrenzSenior reporter
Oct 29, 2021 – 4.23pm
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Women’s activewear label Exie – one of Accent Group’s recently acquired brands – is poised to open two new bricks and mortar stores on Friday evening in Melbourne as the state re-opens following its latest lockdown.

The end to the city’s 250 days of pain finished up a little over a week ago on October 21, but most major stores are throwing doors open at 6pm Friday until late night.

Exie was meant to open its first outlet just before Melbourne’s lockdown hit and after months of waiting will now open new stores at Westfield Foundation Gate and Eastland malls.


“It’s really important for the customer to try and touch and feel and fit the garment”: Christina Exie. AFR

Christina Exie – who founded the brand in her spare bedroom just two years ago – is expecting shopping centres to be busy given pent-up demand, and is excited about the long-awaited store openings.

“With an apparel brand like Exie, it’s really important for the customer to try and touch and feel and fit the garment,” she said. ”So is really exciting to experience the brand from a bricks-and-mortar perspective.”

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The stores feature stainless-steel fixtures contrasted against velour ottomans and fabric curtains in pops of bright pink. They are fitted with chrome barbells as hanging rails, oversized dumbbells and boxing equipment.

Ms Exie said the brand is aimed at teens to mid-30s women with basics, simple silhouettes and pops of colour.

“It’s a bright fun brand. Generally, it’s aimed at the gym girl. She can go to gym and put sweats on and then go to brunch,” Ms Exie said.

Accent is best known as the nation’s largest footwear retailer with more than 20 per cent of the market. It owns The Athlete’s Foot, Platypus, Hype DC, Skechers and The Trybe chains, and sells brands such as Nike, Skechers, Dr Martens, Vans, Merrell, Saucony and Timberland.

It snapped up Exie in January as part of its new brands and formats strategy unveiled in Marchto investors.

Exie is a top-selling brand on online activewear retailer Stylerunner, which was bought by Accent in 2019 after it collapsed. Accent moved further into apparel launching PIVOT, a chain of sportswear shops selling budget-priced clothing and running shoes at that time.

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The first Exie bricks-and-mortar store opened at Sunshine Plaza in Queensland earlier in October, and Accent plans to open stores at Pacific Fair and Highpoint in coming weeks.

Ms Exie said any future stores would depend on how sales go in current sites in the key November and December trading periods.


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Exie sits in Accent’s vertical products and brands segment, which posted huge growth of 103.2 per cent in fiscal 2021 to $25.6 million, and it’s expecting to post more than $70 million this financial year.

Stylerunner the Label and Exie continue to grow their product mix within Stylerunner, with new ranges launching throughout this year.

Following the Glue Store acquisition, Accent now owns 10 vertical brands, including Stylerunner the Label, Exie, Nude Lucy, Article One, Henley’s, Lulu & Rose, ITNO, Alpha, Mindful Department and Beyond Her.