Cabinet Noir started as a sneaker store that couldn’t get Nike or New Balance. Twelve years later, it’s one of the most respected fashion boutiques in Australia, it has dressed Jon Jones and Machine Gun Kelly, and its own label is now the engine of the business.

In Episode 24 of Unlocking Business, I sit down with Edward Maradona, the founder of Cabinet Noir. At 28, Eddie had a choice between a house deposit and putting every dollar he had into a single shop in Shafto Lane, with zero industry experience. He chose the shop. What followed was a cold email to Comme des Garçons, a ticket to Paris Fashion Week with no idea what to do once he got there, a near half-million-dollar loss on stock nobody wanted, and a complete reset of what Cabinet Noir stands for.

It’s one of the most entertaining conversations we’ve had on the show, and there’s plenty in it for anyone running a trade or service business.

Who is Edward Maradona?

Before fashion, Eddie was a breakdancer. He took it up as a shy teenager trying to impress a girl, got hooked after his first workshop, and spent years training in public around Perth’s CBD until security moved him on. In 2013 he won Red Bull BC One Australia, the country’s biggest breaking competition.

That same year he retired from competing and opened Cabinet Noir. Hanging out with the legends of the scene had shown him that even the best dancers were struggling to make a living, and he didn’t want to be selling workshops at 60 to make ends meet. He’d grown up working at Foot Locker, where everyone dreamed of owning their own sneaker store, so he cashed in his shares, put roughly $300,000 into the first fit-out, and went all in.

Key takeaways from the Cabinet Noir story

1. A setback can push you somewhere better

Weeks before opening, New Balance told Eddie they couldn’t supply him because another store around the corner had stocked them for a decade. Nike had already said no. Without the two biggest sneaker brands, he nearly pulled the plug. Instead he started cold-emailing the luxury stores and labels he admired. Only one replied: Comme des Garçons. That one email turned Cabinet Noir into one of the first stores to bring true luxury designer labels to the Australian market.

2. “Buying” at fashion week is a big financial bet

Eddie explains how indent orders really work. You choose your stock in a Paris showroom, pay a 30% deposit, pay the remaining 70% when production finishes, then cover freight and customs before you’ve sold a single item. At his peak he was committing around $600,000 to orders six months in advance. After rent, wages, GST and marketing, he says a 50% margin can quietly become a business killer.

3. The stock nobody wanted nearly cost him $500,000

Once Cabinet Noir was established, the big sneaker brands came on board. But to get the Jordans and Yeezys everyone queued for, he was told to buy large allocations of products nobody wanted, up to 50 pairs per style. That dead stock cost him close to half a million dollars, and the products he thought would make the most money nearly sent him under.

4. Cabinet Noir’s own label became the real business

Eddie compares luxury labels to caviar and wagyu at a fine-dining restaurant. They make the menu look good, but they don’t make the money. Cabinet Noir’s own label is the wine pairing. A customer who won’t spend $400 on a designer t-shirt will happily spend $120 on a Cabinet Noir one, the margins are far healthier, and his own pieces sell through at 90% or more before they ever go on sale.

5. Selling less keeps a brand cool

Eddie caps a statement piece at around 50 units. Make a thousand and everyone in Perth is wearing it, and then nobody wants it. He walked away from one brand when it told him sales were up 800%, because he’d seen that kind of growth dilute labels before. Japanese brands he admires grow slowly on purpose, with some only accepting three new stockists a season.

6. Fill one cup before you pour into the next

At one stage Eddie was running two stores and a cafe. He says it wasn’t double the money, just double the stress. He closed everything down to one focused store and calls it the best decision he’s made. It hit home for me too. Smartfix once had 15 trades and 140 staff, and it felt like losing touch rather than growing. Keep filling the first cup until it’s overflowing. That overflow is the real signal you’re ready for the next one.

Jon Jones, Machine Gun Kelly and the celebrities who’ve worn Cabinet Noir

UFC Hall of Famer Jon Jones once asked for $20,000 upfront to put his name on a Cabinet Noir collaboration. Eddie ran the numbers, realised he wouldn’t even make that much profit on the shirts, and said no. Jones came into the store anyway, picked out a Cabinet Noir tee and wore it to his own afterparty.

Machine Gun Kelly wore a Cabinet Noir t-shirt on stage at the first show of his Australian tour, and the tank top from his second outfit ended up on an album cover with Wiz Khalifa. Imagine Dragons spent around $20,000 in a single visit, and French Montana has been spotted wearing the brand in Miami.

“The things that I thought were going to give me a lot of money actually ended up almost driving me bankrupt.”

Edward Maradona, founder of Cabinet Noir

Where to find Cabinet Noir

Cabinet Noir is now in its third home, on level one of Karrinyup Shopping Centre in the food court near Zara, with the only city view in the centre. Eddie is in store Monday to Friday and encourages anyone who wants to get into fashion to come and say hi, as long as they’ve done their research first.

• Website: cabinetnoir.com.au
• Instagram: @cabinetnoir

More episodes you might like

• Selling My Business Broke Me | Dan Noll
• Is Your Business Worth Anything Without You? | Dr. Mitch Catterall
• Building a Trade Business That Doesn’t Rely on the Owner | Peter Craft

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