About DÉCLIC

DÉCLIC founder and designer, Gilles Du Puy, has had a strong influence on Australian fashion for men for the past 35 years. Beginning his career in fashion in Paris, Gilles saw the opportunity to offer shirts with style and personality adding an interesting edge with exclusivity as the key.

DÉCLIC – it’s French for “Love at First Sight”, has become a favourite with men who want to stand out from the crowd.

DÉCLIC has a strong design culture. It offers a new take on the classics by using beautiful colour, punchy and graphic prints, quirky details and always exceptional quality - delivering on its promise of “anything but boring”. DÉCLIC is renowned for its unique blend of finely crafted workmanship, witty inspired styling and excellent attention to detail.

Committed to the pursuit of male style with personality, Gilles’ attitude is perfect for his occupation: “I’m always looking. I have a passion for it. Everything you see gives you ideas.”

Gilles Du Puy began his career in fashion in Paris while studying at university to become a journalist. However, it was while working as a cultural attaché in Africa that he really started to build on his interest. Gilles loved the local fabrics and began to work with highly talented local machinists to create distinctive shirts – these were so successful he was soon supplying them to all his journalist colleagues.

After arriving in Australia in 1981, Gilles continued to work as a designer for established labels such as Sportscraft, Pierre Charbonnier and Jag, and in 1986 launched the DÉCLIC label.  Originally wholesaling, the first DÉCLIC retail store opened in Melbourne’s South Yarra in 1989 and has now successfully grown to 3 stores across Melbourne and Sydney - plus an global online store.

At the time, Gilles found the local men’s fashion scene too earnest and dull for his tastes and even back then could see the opportunity to offer male style but with personality and edge. Gilles philosophy to set direction rather than simply follow trends, has made DÉCLIC a recognized style leader in men’s fashion. 

Gilles and his team have remained clearly focused on creating distinctive men’s shirting and accessories and this is a key part to the brand’s strength. DÉCLIC create short run collections in unique design colours to balance the range of more traditional white and blue shirts, with a distinctive selection of ties to create a whole story.  

While Australia is the home of DÉCLIC, Gilles retains strong links with France and is a regular visitor to his home country. An important component of these frequent visits to France and Italy is to maintain close relationships with his silk and fabrics suppliers.  As he says “Australia is my home now but France will always be who I am”.