Rachel Donath opens first flagship boutique in the heart of Prahran

It’s the next chapter for a brand that started almost by accident, from reselling vintage finds on Instagram to designing her own pieces, including the Grace dining chair and Allard ottoman, two of her best-sellers today. We sat down with Rachel to talk about the new space, her process, and where she’s drawing inspiration from next.

Tell us about your start in the industry?

I actually came into interiors from a marketing and media background. I’d spent about 15 years working in that world, but I’d always loved interiors, furniture and collecting beautiful pieces for home.

Rachel Donath really started quite organically. I was buying vintage and antique pieces from flea markets, auctions and wherever I could find interesting things and selling them through Instagram under the name Inventory by Rachel. It was really just a passion project at first.

I think what I loved most was the hunt - finding something that felt completely unexpected and imagining how it could live in someone’s home. That eventually evolved into designing my own pieces and this is how Rachel Donath was born.

What led you to start designing your own furniture?

I started designing because I couldn’t always find what I was looking for.

I’d find an incredible antique table or chair and love the shape, but maybe it wasn’t quite the right size or material, or I wanted to see that same idea interpreted in a completely different way.

The first pieces I designed were the Grace dining chair and the Ballini coffee table. From there it just grew. I realised I really loved the creative side of designing and the idea of creating pieces that had that same sense of character as the vintage and antique pieces I was collecting.

What do you think it is about your products that draws such an engaged audience? 

I think people respond to the fact that the pieces have a point of view. They’re not designed to disappear into a room.

I want everything to feel a little bit unexpected, but still really livable. I love the idea of having a home that feels collected over time. A mix of old and new, beautiful things alongside things that have a bit of personality or quirk.

I also think there’s an emotional connection with furniture. The pieces we live with become part of our lives, so I want ours to feel like things you’ll still love ten or twenty years from now.

What made you decide to open a physical space now, and what are you hoping people take away from visiting in person?

It felt like the natural next step for the brand. We’ve grown so much online, but furniture is very tactile. You need to sit in a chair, feel a fabric, see the scale of a table and experience how everything works together.

I also never wanted the showroom to feel like a traditional furniture shop. I wanted it to feel like you were walking into someone’s home. Somewhere you could wander around, discover things and hopefully leave feeling inspired.

There are so many layers to the space that you just can’t capture online. It’s really about experiencing the world of Rachel Donath rather than simply shopping it.

Talk to us about the build and layout of your new Malvern Road store. What makes it unique?

The building itself was a huge part of the inspiration. It’s a beautiful old double-fronted building that was once a home on Malvern Road. Rather than fighting the architecture, we wanted to work with it.

It’s laid out as a series of rooms -  living room, library, dining room, sunroom, bar and so on, so it genuinely feels like a home rather than a showroom.

We’ve layered the furniture with art, sculpture, books, antiques, vintage pieces and lots of collected objects. There are exposed rafters and beautiful steel windows, and then quite sculptural contemporary pieces sitting alongside all of that.

I wanted it to feel like a home that has evolved over many years, even though we created it all at once.

Tell us about the decision to incorporate objects and art from other designers in the space.

That was really important to me. Rachel Donath has never been about everything matching and I didn’t want the showroom to suddenly become that.

I’m a collector at heart, so I wanted to bring together things I genuinely love, including contemporary art, antiques, vintage pieces, sculpture, books and objects from other designers.

I think that’s what makes a home interesting. You don’t walk into someone’s house and everything is from the same collection. The things you love tend to come from different places and different periods and that’s what gives a room its personality.

Where do you draw inspiration from for new designs, and is there a particular era, place or material you keep coming back to?

Inspiration comes from everywhere. I spend a lot of time looking at old auction catalogues, flea markets, antiques and vintage furniture, but also fashion, art, architecture and travel.

I’m always photographing things when I travel, a doorway, a strange chair in a restaurant, a colour combination, the way an old building has aged.

I’m particularly drawn to European design and old-world forms, but I don’t want the pieces to feel like reproductions of anything. It’s more about taking something I love from the past and finding a way to make it feel relevant now.

Lately I’ve also been having a lot of fun with materials that you don’t necessarily see everywhere in interiors, like tortoiseshell and volcanic basalt. I love when a material can completely change the feeling of a familiar form.

Coffee: Morning market for coffee and pastries or fresh bread and flowers too.

Retail shop:  I love shopping antiques, Gibsons is a great starting point in High Street, Prahran 

Restaurant: I do love Neighbourhood pizza, sitting outside on Beaty Avenue in Armadale on a warm Summer night is such a vibe and the food is simple and delicious.