November 2, 2026 — 5:00am

A rite of passage for many Australians took place on a Thursday evening.

After the final school bell rang, groups of teenagers would make the weekly pilgrimage to their local shopping centre and walk around for hours, gossiping as they browsed through shops that housed treasures they couldn’t yet afford.

Oroton creative director, Sophie Holt with Keinton Butler, Senior Curator at Powerhouse Museum, Parramatta. Steven Siewert

“They became a part of everyday life,” says Sophie Holt, Oroton creative director, of the place shopping centres have within the broader context of Australian fashion history.

“For many people, it was the main place where they first saw fashion.…