Some Oxford Street shopfronts come and go with the fashion cycle. G.A. Zink & Sons is the opposite — a Darlinghurst tailoring firm founded in 1895 by German immigrant Gustav Adolph Zink, who first traded at 112 Oxford Street. When the street was widened, City of Sydney auctioned new leasehold shop sites; Zink took 56 Oxford Street and commissioned architect John Dunstan to design a four-storey Federation Arts and Crafts building, erected about 1911–12 by G.T. Brown. The firm has occupied that purpose-built premises ever since.
In 1938 Frank Zink installed a bold Art Deco shopfront and entrance porch by shopfitters H. & E. Sidgreaves — still the signature of the Oxford Street elevation. Mezzanine alterations in the late 1920s had already expanded fitting and cutting space. The GA Zink & Sons Building, including the Art Deco shopfront and significant interiors, is listed on the NSW State Heritage Register. Tailoring continues on the site more than a century after the move to number 56 — one of Oxford Street’s longest-running specialist retailers.
Photographs here show the Oxford Street façade and shopfront detail of the Zink & Sons building.
Zink & Sons Tailors - Oxford Street - Since 1895
G. A. Zink & Sons was established in 1895 at 112 Oxford Street by Gustav A. Zink. The purpose-built premises at 56 Oxford Street were built around 1912 on a new block formed by the widening of Oxford Street. The building was later substantially renovated by his son, Frank, with a new shopfront & entrance porch designed by the shop fitting firm of H. & E. Sidgreaves and installed during 1938
