Sportsgirl exploded into 2006 winning five Shop Til You Drop Awards in February, including Australia’s Best Retail Chain, Most Impressive Retailer Revamp, Best Customer Service and Best Merchandising/Window Display and Store of the Year.

Celebrations continued in February with the launch of the Exclusives for Sportsgirl range, offering the latest in the hottest trends and must-have looks in to-die-for limited edition pieces released each month.

In March Sportsgirl stole the limelight at the 2006 L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival with the explosive and innovative Sportsgirl Loft event at the Piazza, Waterfront City, Melbourne, which ran for three nights from 28 February.

Designers, models, fashionistas, VIP guests and friends of Sportsgirl were welcomed into the exciting world of Sportsgirl’s Autumn/Winter collections via a specially-built New York-inspired loft space, and then treated to a complete sensory and multi-dimensional experience. A high-impact film and live music from Paul Mac, with vocalists Abby Dobson, Ngaiire and Peta Morris, who all appear on Paul Mac’s latest album, ‘Panic Room’, blew style radars out of the stratosphere.

Sportsgirl and Cosmopolitan hosted a themed bar next to the Loft, which was the place to be seen at the Festival, and left guests wondering what Sportsgirl would come up with for the Festival in 2007. Guests included Bree Amer, Ricki Lee, Natalie Bloom, Paul Mac, Jules Lund, Kate Cebrano, Pia Miranda, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Dan O'Connor and Belinda Fairbanks.