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Craik, Jennifer(2017)Fashioning Australian: Recent reflections on the Australian style in con-temporary fashion.Journal of Asia-Pacific Pop Culture, 2(1), pp. 30-52.

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1

Fashioning Australian: Recent Reflections on the Australian style in Contemporary

Fashion1

Manuscript (in Word format)

2

Abstract

The concept of Australian fashion as a distinctive style and cultural preoccupation has been

long contested. Yet, historical records and contemporary consumer behaviour show that

fashion has been integral to the formation of national identity and sense of self. Since

European settlement, there have been periods when Australians have embraced and promoted

Australian style as unique and not merely derivative of overseas (mostly European and

American) trends. This article traces the development of a discourse about Australian fashion

to contextualize a number of recent publications and exhibitions about Australian fashion that

explore various aspects of its history, development, distinctiveness and future. The argument

is that they are building collectively the framework for a revitalized perception of the

significance and potential of Australian fashion in the global fashion context.

Keywords

Australian fashion; fashion theory; fashion industry; fashion retailers; fashion exhibitions

3

Introduction: Australian fashion under the spotlight

The theme of this article is that Australian fashion is increasingly being recognized as a

significant cultural institution and practice in contemporary Australia. Signs of this include

the growth in exhibitions and .diverse publications about Australian fashion hotting up since

the 1990s but escalating in the 2000s. The year, 2016, has been no exception with a number

of events suggesting that fashion was in the air of Australian culture in a particularly assertive

way. The National Gallery of Victoria staged the 200 Years of Australian Fashion Exhibition

as well as the Henry Talbot: Fashion Photographer exhibition; Vogue (Australia) published a

bumper issue edited by internationally renowned fashion photographer, Mario Testino; the

Powerhouse staged Collette Dinnigan Unlaced featuring the works of the first Australian

fashion designer to show at Paris Fashion Week; while the Bendigo Art Gallery held the Toni

Maticevski: Dark Wonderland exhibition, and the Bendigo Post Office Gallery staged

Flamingo Park and Beyond celebrating a retrospective of the iconic fashion collaborations of

Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson.

Coinciding with these landmark events has been an explosion of academic, critical, social and

tourist publications about Australian fashion. This attention to fashion – previously a much

maligned and neglected sphere of Australian culture – is in many respects an unlikely

development given that the contemporary Australian fashion industry has been in a growing

state of crisis since the 1980s. A perfect storm of factors has contributed to the shrinking

local industry: the abolition of tariffs on imported apparel; decline of the Australian Textile,

Clothing and Footwear manufacturing industry and textile production and development; the

collapse of innumerable established designers, labels and retailers; growing competition with

imported brands and retailers; increasing online fashion consumption; and erosion of already

contentious employment rights and conditions in the fashion industry. Amid a series of

government and industry reports charting this unfolding scenario, public and academic

4

attention to the cultural, if not economic, significance of Australian fashion has risen even as

its survival is under threat – at least in its current structure.

Publications about Australian fashion have addressed these and other issues in a range of

publishing venues: articles and features in Australian fashion magazines; a number of “state

of the industry” reports; histories of Australian fashion retailers; biographies and overviews

of Australian fashion designers; the staging of fashion exhibitions with the publication of

accompanying catalogues; and diverse media, public and critical fashion commentary and

scholarship. The conundrum as to why there has been so much attention to the industry when

it is arguably on its last legs has prompted speculation that perhaps, rather than constituting

an obituary, these publications herald a new phase of Australian fashion awareness that is

accompanying significant re-alignments as to the potential of Australian fashion to survive

and prosper in the global fashion context.2 Arguably, a proliferation of fashion design,

innovation, experimentation, styling, and new mix of retailing approaches has reached a new

state of maturity. To explore these themes, this article seeks to place a set of diverse writings

into an analytic context that charts their contributions to understanding the state of Australian

fashion and its likely futures.

Perspectives on Australian fashion

The publications under consideration here include a diverse range of perspectives about the

industry in the recent past that address the current state of Australian fashion and explore

likely futures.

Australian fashion magazines

Although usually regarded as marginal and recent, there is a history of intense interest in

fashion from the earliest days of settlement.3 For example, fashion was the subject of the

5

social pages of newspapers and magazines from the earliest days with detailed descriptions of

the outfits of the social elite and extensive coverage of new fashions available in stores.

Drawings and later photographs were also an important source of fashion inspiration

throughout colonial days. The letters and diaries of women – especially those in regional

areas – also attest to the obsession with matters of dress.4 There was a palpable hunger for

news of the latest overseas trends that were influencing the fashions of the colonies. Business

boomed for dressmakers, milliners and tailors. Fabrics were imported from the first days first

from Britain and later from India and East Asia including lighter fabrics such as muslin for

warm climate apparel. Business was brisk for tailors and dressmakers. For example,

Brisbane’s Miss Scott “made almost all the elaborate gowns for a local Government House

ball in 1870. Not one was imported.”5 This was an extraordinary achievement and

demonstrated the resilience of the local dressmaking industry.

The purported first fashion magazine published in Australia was Weigel’s Journal of Fashion

1880-1915 followed by Madame Weigel’s Journal of Fashion 1915-1950 which

complemented the Australia’s first dress-pattern service that started in 1877.6 Other fashion

focused magazines included the Australian Home Journal (1894-1983) and The Home (1920-

1942)7 which, in its first edition, it proclaimed that:

An interesting and considerable section of The Home will be dedicated to the cult of

dress, and the best illustrations which art can compass will keep readers in touch with

the trend of fashion and the last requirements of feminine adornment.8

In many ways, The Home set the tone for fashion journalism in Australia with its high quality

production values and promotion of modernism. It had lively feature complemented by

impressive ”art” photography s on a range of areas concerned with fashion, design,

decoration and lifestyle targeted at the aspirational middle class. This was in stark contrast to

6

other magazines of the time, such as the Australian Women’s Weekly which was first

published in 1939. Although it rapidly became a bible for Australian women about all aspects

of feminine, homemaker, wifely and maternal matters, as well as covering social and political

events and a generous dose of fashion, the Women’s Weekly was conservative in tone,

prescribing appropriate behavioural codes for women in their roles as subservient wives and

mothers. The postwar period saw a blossoming of fashion publications with the youth-

oriented Flair beginning in 1956 (-1970s) which was aimed at a fashion-forward 16-25 year

old audience, followed by the publication of Vogue Australia in 1959, only the fourth

national edition after the French, American and British editions:

This, in itself, was extraordinary. Australia was on the other side of the world, and at

that time had a population of only ten million people. It was hardly a fashion capital –

or anything approaching it.9

The publication of Vogue constituted a major shot in the arm for the idea of Australian

fashion and the nascent fashion industry. Other fashion-related magazines followed, such as

Ragtrader (1972-), Mode (1977-1997), Australian Style (1993-2003), Marie Claire (1995-),

Harper’s Bazaar (Australia) (1998-) and Madison (2005-2013).

In this context, a number of coffee table books have celebrated the role of the main

Australian fashion magazines: the first 50 years of fashion in Vogue, the first 20 years of

defining “Australian style” in Harper’s Bazaar, and the first 50 years of fashion in the The

Australian Women’s Weekly.10 The Vogue book traces the way in which the magazine

developed “its own distinctly Australian voice” from a “Eurocentric” approach to “the

exuberant, wildly imaginative Australianness that bloomed in the late 1970s ... to the

confident globalism of today ... [and] to celebrate that astonishing blossoming.”11

7

In a related way, the Harper’s Bazaar book asks “what is Australian style?” by exploring

“people’s ideas of what Australian style means to them ...[and] proving that the definition of

Australian style is different for everyone” encompassing “an adventurer’s spirit,” “the

uncompromising, ironic vision” of our designers, “the bright tropical colours,” “the dusty

earthy tones,” “the glitz of a nation that knows how to party” and “the utilitarian practicality”

of Australians who “prefer to be out of clothes rather than in them.”12

In the case of the Australian Women’s Weekly, style and fashion have been a key feature of

every issue as well as dominating the cover, thereby illustrating through time how Australians

developed a sense of style and how fashion emanated from, and was a response to, the social,

cultural and political currents of each successive era. As Thomas writes:

From expensive, socialite-modelled European couture of the 1930s to austere wartime

make-do styles, from the alluring New Look of the 950s to the androgyny of the

1960s and the freewheeling hippie chic of the 1970s, The Weekly has chronicled the

evolution of mainstream Australian fashion, regularly juxtaposing fashion

photography alongside coverage of the cultural and political events that have shaped

us.13

Together, these books offer snapshots of particular times and looks that are frozen in selected

images from selected issues of the magazines. These mark a milestone in fashion publishing

and perhaps denote a new chapter in fashion journalism and reportage possibly in response to

the avalanche of electronic and digital fashion coverage.

Australian fashion industry reports:

There have been also numerous reports about the state of the Textile Clothing and Footwear

industry since Roy Green’s 2008 report Building Innovative Capacity which recommended

8

major reforms to build up design and innovation aspects of the industry.14 The most relevant

publications are the regular IBISWorld Industry reports on industry performance and the

annual Baptist World Aid reports evaluating corporate commitment to ethical and sustainable

practices in the Australian fashion industry. IBISWorld concludes that the industry “will need

to develop strong retailing strategies and position themselves in niche markets to flourish in

this increasingly competitive environment.”15 Assessing the uptake of Corporate Social

Responsibility (CSR) among 200 fashion companies, the 2016 report concludes that, while

there had been an improvement, only a fellow Australia fashion brands have achieved an “A”

rating (Cotton On, H&M, Etiko and Audrey Blue) while the majority of companies are not on

the ethical bandwagon in any tangible sense.16

These reports share a picture of the increasingly competitive global context of the fashion

industry, characterised by digital disruption and changing consumer-driven fashion cultures

that are forcing brands and retailers to adopt new practices, on the one hand, and the

declining local industry and sustainability/ethical issues challenging current practices, on the

other hand. Much faith has been given to the challenge of Australian fashion to innovate in

niche design, manufacture and retailing to appeal to domestic and international consumers

alike.

Australian fashion retailers:

Meanwhile several popular histories of fashion retailers have been published. These include

You and Cue – the lives of a label made in Australia “celebrating 40 years of fashion” and its

formative impact on the lives of generations of customers, staff and fans which are

characterised as a family or community of shared interests.17 Established in 1968 – at the time

of the “youthquake” fashion revolution – Cue brought the fashions from Swinging London

and popular music to Australian shores offering young women their own distinctive cutting

9

edge fashions for the first time. The book was generated by photos and stories from

customers who identified with Cue as central to “important moments” in their lives and over

the years has become regarded as a heritage label that customers have relied on to stock their

wardrobes and fit their changing lifestyles.

More recently, Vicki Steggall, the grand-daughter of the founder of Sportsgirl, published a

memoir titled Anything can Happen ... Sportsgirl: the Bardas years documenting and

celebrating the “special role” that the Bardas family played between 1947 and 1994.18 The

book discusses the strategies whereby Sportsgirl provided customers with “a fresh attitude

and fashion freedom” by sourcing new fashion from overseas and adapting these for

Australian customers and lifestyle.19

In post-WW2 Australia, the culture of the 1950s and 1960s was undergoing a transformation

including the birth of consumer culture and desire for wider range of fashionable goods than

was available in department stores. Sportsgirl adopted American and European marketing

tactics, sort out agents and suppliers of fresh fashions, and targeted the 15 to 24 year old

fashion consumer who, until then, had been ignored by fashions that were aimed at either

children or women. The teen group was also a growing demographic and one that benefitted

from having disposable income to spend on the new retail offerings.

Like Cue, Sportsgirl distinguished itself from department stores that largely promoted

cautious fashion trends and staples that sold well each season and targeted established market

segments. Department stores were also slow to recognise the development of the teenage

market and emergence of youth culture largely driven by popular music and cinema stars.

Young people enjoyed new educational and employment opportunities as well as the

opportunity to travel overseas which opened up whole new vistas and life choices. Young

women also benefitted from new birth control options and the rise of feminism.

10

Marketing, advertising and other forms of “in your face” promotion were central to this

strategy. Sportsgirl was also important in identifying and buying from young new designers

which was instrumental in developing a fashion design culture in Australia.20 Not only was

Sportsgirl “one of Australia’s first youth fashion brands” but has been an enduring symbol of

Australian femininity as “sexy, independent and ready for adventure” as lifestyle aspirations

of young women changed.21 Visual merchandising was crucial to both Cue and Sportsgirl,

copying from the fashion boutique techniques of Swinging London and leisure and casual

fashion from America. Promotion and marketing that coordinated the fashions with

accessories, store design and promotion, and bold constantly updated advertising campaigns

created recognizable total looks that appealed to the loyal consumer, known internally as “our

“our girl”.22

Cue and Sportsgirl were instrumental also in training and promoting a generation of fashion

designers who understood and appealed to this new consumer market. Between the 1960s and

the 1980s, a raft of young-at-heart designers dominated the fashion pages, including Prue

Acton, Norma Tullo, Trent Nathan, Mike Treloar, Kenneth Pirrie, Mary Shackman, Jill

Clegg, Rae Ganim and Stuart Membery. While Sportsgirl had its ups and downs, it remained

a viable enterprise until the recession of the 1980s from which it never recovered in its

existing form. In 1994, Sportsgirl was sold under bankers’ orders and had a rocky period

before being bought by Naomi Milgrom who has restored its fortunes by reinstating its core

values and fashion sensibility.23

Complementing these books on independent fashion retailing chains, in 2013, the major

department store, David Jones, commissioned a comprehensive and glossy history of its first

150 years. Drawing on its extensive archives, the book charts the history of the store and the

significance of the cultural role that it has played in Australian identity and shaping fashion

consumption practices.24 Established in 1838, David Jones is the oldest department store in

11

Australia and the “oldest in the world still trading under its original name.”25 Its main

competitor, Myer, was not established until 1900. Targeting a middle class customer and

wooing wealthier ones where possible as special customers, David Jones served both the city

and far flung towns and communities. This was enhanced from 1873 with the publication of

catalogues that made everything from fashion to furniture and home goods available

anywhere. David Jones was also one of the first Australian stores to introduce store and credit

cards encouraging consumers to buy now and pay later.

Together, these retail histories are aimed at establishing a brand “family” or community

(articulated by design houses as defining the target customer) as the backdrop to recording

changing images to mark a moment (a “writing on the wall”) moment that appears to be

heralding major changes that are underway or ahead as fashion retail business models seek to

adapt to new conditions and global competition.

Catalogues for Australian-focused fashion exhibitions

From the late 19th century, fashion was on show at International exhibitions as well as

agricultural and industrial shows both in Australia and as part of colonial exhibitions

overseas.26 In addition, displays of new fashions and fashion shows were a staple feature of

fairs, fetes and other special events from early days. Interestingly, Australian fashion has not

only been influenced by English trends but also by European (especially Paris), other colonial

(such as India) and increasingly American fashion (from the 1940s). Buyers made overseas

trips to buy the latest fashions which were faithfully reproduced and marketed as Paris (and

even as named designer rip-offs). A major turning point was the staging of fashion shows

featuring French fashions and models (sponsored by the Australian Women’s Weekly) from

1946, the first of four annual parades:

12

The overarching intention of staging the shows was to stimulate the embryonic

fashion industry in Australia... by challenging it with examples of high quality, by

instructing local designers on overseas styles, and by undercutting the Americans who

were trying to assert their fashion influence in competition with the French.27

While America continued to export more casual styles and modified versions of Hollywood

fashion, the local fashion industry prospered from producing “reproductions of French

fashions” and developing a Paris Fashion Pattern service that enabled Australian women to

adapt and make up their own versions of French fashions.28 The energetic promotion of

fashion proliferated into the 1950s and 1960s but it took a while before museums recognised

the cultural significance of fashion within their hallowed walls and object-centred collections.

Items of dress were treated and curated as examples of the fashions of previous eras as mere

cultural artefacts that complemented more serious museum items.

The first Australian-fashion focused museological shows in Australia date from the 1970s.29

Among the earliest were : 1978 Breeches and Bustles: Fashion in South Australia, 1881-

1981; 1985-1986 Necks to Nothing: The Colonial History of Bathing; 1986 Dressed to Kill,

1935-1950: The Impact of World War 2 on Queensland Women’s Dress; and 1988 Paula

Stafford and the Bikini.30 In the late 1980s, the Museum of Arts and Applied Sciences held

several fashion exhibitions including 1987 Linda Jackson: The Art of Fashion, 1988 Art

Knits, and 1989-1990 Australian Fashion – The Contemporary Art.31 However, most of these

exhibitions were at small or regional galleries suggesting that interest in fashion was as much

a regional preoccupation, perhaps also reinforcing the fact that fashion in Australia has shown

distinctive local fashions in different states as well as different geographic and climatic

regions.32

13

Since the 1990s, there have been at least 30 exhibitions about Australian fashion in

mainstream galleries and museums. There have been many other exhibitions at historic

houses, National Trust venues, and the like. Exhibitions have been framed around a range of

themes: historic overviews, individual designers, distinctively Australian fashions, and

cultural contexts (see Appendix).

A by-product of some of these exhibitions has been the catalogues which are often the only

lasting memento of these events. The most lasting of these are exhibition catalogues for

shows including Japanese fashion influence on Australian fashion;33 Australian fashion

photography;34 Katie Pye;35 Easton Pearson;36 Linda Jackson;37 Muslim fashion;38 wedding

dresses;39 and the Newstead House clothing collection;40 and 200 years of Australian

fashion.41

Of these, three stand out for different reason. First, the catalogue for Easton Pearson is an

extended overview of “one of Australia’s great fashion labels” that has had lasting national

and international success;42 second, the catalogue for the Connecting Threads exhibition

provides a meticulous investigation both of objects in the collection but painstaking detective

work in piecing together provenance, ownership and linking these elements into telling the

lived experiences of garments and the people who wore them; and third, the 200 Years

exhibition which presents quirky glimpses of aspects of the exhibition in the context of

developing a narrative about the history and cultural coherence of Australian fashion since

settlement to the present day (although the period from settlement in 1788 and 2016 is

actually 228 years).

Overall, these Australian fashion exhibitions piece together snatches of the material culture of

clothes as evidence of distinctive Australian fashion histories and tales from local, regional,

national and international contexts and impacts. Sadly, Australia still lacks a dedicated

14

museum or gallery collecting and exhibiting clothing and fashion although perhaps the

dispersed nature of the Australian population and strong regional themes that come through

exhibitions to date conspire against the logic of a “national” fashion repository.

Scholarly publications about Australian fashion cultures and designers

Scholarly writing about Australian fashion reflects a growing interest both in reflecting on the

state of the industry and the phenomenon of Australian fashion culture. Reflective

publications date from the 1960s, with the key texts being Cedric Flower’s Duck and

Cabbage Tree: A Pictorial History of Clothes in Australia, 1788-1914 (1968); Norma

Martyn’s The Look: Australian in their Fashion (1976); Elizabeth Scandetti’s Breeches and

Bustles: Fashion in South Australia, 1881-1981 (1978); and Marion Fletcher’s Costume in

Australia 1788-1901 (1984).43 The 1980s and 1990s witnessed the publication of numerous

titles by Elina Mackay; Alexandra Joel; Margaret Maynard; and Robyn Healy.44

There was also a significant increase in catalogues and chapters by curators and journalists,

as well as feature columns by fashion journalists (such as Diana Bagnall, Lenore Nicklin,

Miriam Cosic, and Marion Hume). In 1997, Patsy Huntington published an article titled

“Sartorial Sandinistas” which characterised the most definitive account of the distinctiveness

of Australian fashion.45 Indigenous fashion design (often textiles) was also recognised for the

first time as fashion rather than as craft or decorative art.46

By the 2000s, perhaps fanned by the national euphoria surrounding the Sydney Olympic

Games, there was an explosion of publications about Australian fashion. These included:

Maynard’s Out of Line: Australian Women and Style (2001); Jenny Kee’s A Big Life (2006);

Craik and Black’s special journal issue, “Australian Fashion Perspectives” (2009); Oakley

Smith’s Fashion: Australian and New Zealand Designers (2010); English and Pomazan’s

Australian Fashion Unstitched: The Last 60 Years (2010/1012); Buick and King’s Remotely

15

Fashionable: A Story of Subtropical Style (2015); and Di Trocchio et al.’s 200 Years of

Australian Fashion (2016d).47 Of these, Maynard’s masterful Out of Line remains the most

comprehensive and intriguing story and analysis of the development of a fashion sensibility

in Australia.

Overall, these scholarly book-length publications serve to offer contextual and critical

perspectives on key aspects of the structure of, and processes within, the Australian fashion

industry, as well as records of the changing panoply of major designers and labels (who often

come and go before their stories are told), and generally charting the character of regional

fashion cultures and industries within the broader Australian context.

Themes and preoccupations of writings about Australian fashion

Does Australia have a fashion sensibility? American social commentator, Alison Lurie,

clearly thought so. In her book, The Language of Clothes, she wrote:

Australians ... can often be recognised by their fondness for garments suggesting the

pursuit of kangaroos across the outback: khaki shirts and jackets, clumsy sheepskin

vests, high leather boots and the famous bush hats. These clothes may be worn by

women as well as men… even the most respectable man is essentially a manly

bushwacker.48

Perhaps reflecting Lurie’s distant observations, there have been two main themes written

about Australian fashion: first, a preoccupation with whether the distinctiveness of Australian

fashion, and, second, in what ways the Australia fashion industry is unique.49 The underlying

theme of much writing has been whether fashion in Australia is simply derivative of

European (and North American) fashion perhaps reflecting the “cultural cringe” feeling

expressed by many Australian commentators about the place of Australia in the world. To

16

this end, considerable energies have been devoted to trying to define what is distinctive about

Australian fashion and whether it matters.

There is increasing evidence of both an awareness of fashion and a palpable stylistic

sensibility from colonial times (even if it was considered too colourful, showy or “flash” as

contemporary overseas observers decried) as well as the early development of elements of a

fashion industry that both belie the claim that Australia has no fashion and that what passed

for fashion was not distinctive. Even if Australian fashion is not markedly distinctive or

different from fashion elsewhere, the fact that commentators continue to be preoccupied by

the idea suggests that it is part of, and does contribute to (perhaps underpin), our sense of

national identity and cultural heritage.

As to the second preoccupation with the nature of the Australian fashion industry,

commentators have explored a variety of issues associated with industry structure, industrial

and employment issues, the impact of tariffs and their abolition as part of industry

protection policies, the rise and fall of local apparel manufacturing, and changing patterns of

ownership from extended family and generational arrangements to small-to-medium business

entities, to offshore equity and global corporations. While historically, the role of government

has been crucial to the twists and turns of the Australia fashion industry, as part of industry

restructuring policies, and the employment and infrastructure repercussions. Increasingly,

neither the Australian government nor the fashion industry is not in a position to influence the

influx of global players and fashion brands and retailers. In this context, more speculation

concerns whether the Australian fashion industry has a future and, if so, how will this fit into

the scenario of global fashion labels, brands, industries and transforming supply chains.

What do recent events and publications indicate about the current state of Australian

fashion?

17

This section turns to positioning several 2016 fashion milestones mentioned earlier. As

bestowing the imprimatur of global recognition, Mario Testino’s special edition of Vogue

was an important moment. The Vogue issue was the tenth special issue that Testino has done.

According to the editor, Edwina McCann, Testino wanted to tap into the creativity and “can

do” attitude of Australians, as well as the “positivity, beauty of the landscape, and the

extraordinary light” as well as exploring the “psyche of the Australian male” and Australia’s

“indigenous culture”.50 Testino reflected that he: “approached this issue to begin with [as] a

celebration of the impact of Australia internationally” and “the sense of freedom an

openness” of Australians that accounted for their international success.51 As such, the issue is

about international fashion and Australia in that context with advertisements of luxury brands

but also mid-market and High Street retailers such as H&M.

Symptomatically, the fashion shoots chose major global brands and labels such as Louis

Vuitton, Dior, Raf Simons, Givenchy, Fendi, Armani, Dior, and Chanel, plus some lesser

known labels including (unknown to an Australian audience) Peruvian labels. In all, this issue

was very much about putting Australia into a global framework of fashion, commerce,

marketing and fashion cultures.52 Reflecting Testino’s personal interests, there was a huge

emphasis on the use of (young) Australian male models. Even the cover which features a

female model in the centre front of the image opens out to reveal that she is among four male

models that are in fact the focus of the mise en scene.

Less predictably, the issue included unexpected and lavish special features on connections

between Indigenous Australian and Peruvian identities and their creative practices as well as

considering the transformation of ideas about Australian masculinity from traditional images

of lifesavers, beaches and surfing culture to contemporary vignettes of successful “hip”, sexy

and voyeuristic men and women where the men are as much the object of the spectacle as the

18

women. In short, this issue goes well beyond the cultural fringe and cringe to locate Vogue

and Australian fashion culture truly in the global space.

By contrast, the exhibition, 200 Years of Australian Fashion, presented an extensive and

elaborately staged spectacle charting moments and eras in Australian fashion history from the

collection of the National Gallery of Victoria.53 The exhibition was welcomed but seemed to

be largely disappointing to reviewers and many visitors.54 Some spoke of it being a missed

opportunity that failed to reflect the momentum of how fashion had developed in Australia

and what it represented. Indeed, there were gaps in periods, leaps from one era to another,

uneven curatorial treatment, and uneven descriptions and labelling. Attracting particular

condemnation was the omission of any references to or examples of Indigenous fashion.

Visitors had mixed reactions to the diverse exhibitionary contexts and styles of presentation

in different rooms. One particular omission was the complete absence of fashion from the

1930s to the 1950s. Moreover, the exhibition was also almost exclusively focused on fashion

from Melbourne and Sydney, ignoring fashions in other cities and regions as well as

distinctively Australian genres as such as swimwear and casual lifestyle fashion. Some

commentators suggested that the selection of exhibits would have benefitted from drawing on

other collections of representative styles and looks by borrowing garments from other

museum collections, community-based archives and private collectors.

Above all, the beautifully presented catalogue was strangely tangential to the exhibition

including four discrete chapters, two by Queensland authors55 who seemed to engage more

with the historical narrative revealed by the exhibition items than the introductory and

concluding overview chapters.56 While undoubtedly an important milestone in exhibitions

about Australian fashion, this event shows that there are many more stories about Australian

fashion to be told in future exhibitions.

19

Curated by what is becoming the key fashion gallery in Australia, the Toni Maticevski

exhibition at Bendigo Art Gallery adopted a distinctive approach in contrast to the earlier

Maticevski exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria in 2013. This exhibition drew from

works in the designer’s archive that traced his journey into arguably Australia’s premier

contemporary example of couture. Subtitled Dark Wonderland, the exhibition celebrated the

female body – albeit it as willowy as a whippet -- and androgynous in shape. Maticevski

mostly designs glamour gowns with a twist and excels in complex artisanal techniques with

multiple innovative use and combination of fabrics, textures, colours and generous use of

pleating, tucking and seaming. Welcomed as “beautiful and bizarre”, “an artist with the

abilities of a traditional craftsman” and as “an international fashion icon”, the Maticevski

exhibition traces the maturation of Australian fashion onto the world stage in a similar way to

the Collette Dinnigan Unlaced exhibition held at the Powerhouse.57

Also in Bendigo, the Post Office Gallery featured a small but significant exhibition,

Flamingo Part and Beyond, celebrating the longterm collaborations between perhaps the best

known popular fashion designers, Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson. Best known for their

colourful and irreverent allusions to Australiana, Indigenous culture and cross cultural design

inspirations from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Kee and Jackson set Australian fashion on fire

in the 1980s and 1990s. Although less visible in the intervening years, both continued their

design/art careers, only to be rediscovered in the 2000s resulting in an exhibition, Bush

Couture, showing Jackson’s work at the National Gallery of Victoria in 2012, coinciding with

an archival catwalk of Kee’s work at Melbourne Fashion Week, and subsequent

collaborations with Romance Was Born’s Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales who introduced the

creative verve to a new generation.58

20

In short, these diverse fashion events have cemented the visibility of contemporary Australian

fashion as a significant cultural practice that is forging new directions amid the revolutions

taking place in global culture.

Conclusion: what is the future of fashion discourse, scholarship and exhibitions in

Australia?

Do these diverse developments signal the end of Australian fashion? The mood canvassed in

the publications considered here suggest that they herald a new era in the face of global

fashion players, increasing digital disruption, the loss of manufacturing capability and

extensive overseas sourcing, as well as the impacts of significant social and cultural changes

as Australia repositions itself in the Asian context and beyond.

The publications, exhibitions and events appear to reflect a new alliance and rapprochement

between industry insiders, fashion observers and fashion intellectuals as a nascent design

culture and re-positioning of fashion as part of the cultural and creative industries (as opposed

to the manufacturing industries wherein it languished for decades in policy and statistics

terms) in which consumerism and consumption-driven habits and lifestyles play a central role

that increasingly defines the national psyche and identity.

Together, these publications portend the coming of age of Australian fashion as a global

player. This requires considerable tinkering with business outlooks and models of operation.

As Naomi Milgrom, the owner of the successful Sportsgirl, Susan and Suzanne Grae brands,

has observed, local brands have other advantages of knowing the customers and their

lifestyles by providing “authenticity” and a point of difference as well as developing tangible

ways of knowing and connecting with their customers.59 To this end, the term fashion in

Australia rather than Australian fashion maps out appropriately the contours of the new

21

fashion cultures and global contexts in which the Australian fashion industry finds itself as

one of the emerging “polycentric” fashion capitals of the world.60

22

ENDNOTES

1 This paper was presented at the 7th Annual International Popcaanz Conference, Sydney,

Australia, June 29 – July 1, 2016.

2 Roy Green, Building Innovative Capacity: Review of the Australian Textile, Clothing and

Footwear Industries (Canberra: Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research

(DIISR), Commonwealth of Australia, 2009);

IBIS World Industry Reports, “Industry at a Glance,” 2016a,

http://clients1.ibisworld.com.au.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/reports/au/industry/ataglance.aspx?e

ntid=407; IBIS World Industry Reports, “Industry Outlook,” Australia Fashion Industry,

2016b,

http://clients1.ibisworld.com.au.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/reports/au/industry/industryoutlook.

aspx?entid=407#IO; IBIS World Industry Reports, “Competitive Landscape,” Australia

Fashion Industry, 2016c,

http://clients1.ibisworld.com.au.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/reports/au/industry/competitivelands

cape.aspx?entid=407; IBIS World Industry Reports, “Industry Performance,” Australia

Fashion Industry,

http://clients1.ibisworld.com.au.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/reports/au/industry/currentperforma

nce.aspx?entid=407.

3 Jane Elliott, “The Politics of Antipodean Dress: Consumer Interests in Nineteenth Century

Victoria,” Journal of Australian Studies 21, no. 52 (1987): 20-33; Margaret Maynard,

Fashioned from Penury (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994b).

4 Margaret Maynard, “’A Great Deal Too Good for the Bush’: Women and the Experience of

Dress in Queensland,” in On the Edge: Women’s Experiences of Queensland, ed. Gail Reekie

(Brisbane: University of Queensland Press: 51-65; Margaret Maynard, Out of Line:

23

Australian Women and Style (Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 2001);

Margaret Maynard, “Miss Scott’s World of Colonial Elegance,” Gallery, March-April

(Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 2016a): 34-35; Margaret Maynard, “Status: 1805-

1900,” in 200 Years of Australian Fashion, ed. Paola Di Trocchio (Melbourne: National

Gallery of Victoria, 2016b): 10-25.

5 Maynard, “Status,” 33.

6 Juliette Peers, “’London, Paris, New York, and Collingwood’: Reconsidering Pre-1945

Australian Fashion,” Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art 10, no. 1 (2009): 96-121.

7 Judith O’Callaghan, ed. The Australian Dream: Design of the Fifties (Sydney: Powerhouse

Publishing, 1993); Julie Oliver, “Let’s Decorate: Fabrics, Colours and Fitting,” in The

Australian Home Beautiful: From Hills Hoist to High Rise (South Yarra Victoria: Hardie

Grant Books, 1999a): 144-159; Julie Oliver, The Australian Home Beautiful: From Hills

Hoist to High Rise (South Yarra Victoria: Hardie Grant Books, 1999b); Kylie Winkworth,

“Followers of Fashion: Dress in the Fifties,” in O’Callaghan, The Australian Dream, 59-73.

8 State Library Victoria, http://guides.slv.vic.gov.au/fashion/australian.

9 Kirstie Clements and Lee Tulloch, eds., In Vogue. 50 Years of Australian Style (Sydney,

HarpersCollins, 2009), vi.

10 Clements and Tulloch, In Vogue; Jamie Huckbody, ed., Harper’s Bazaar Australia.

Australian Style (Sydney: Hearst/ACP, 2009); Deborah Thomas, The Australian Women’s

Weekly Fashion: The First Fifty Years (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 2014).

11 Clements and Tulloch, vi-vii.

12 Huckbody, Harper’s Bazaar Australia, 6.

13 Thomas, The Australian Women’s Weekly, v.

14 Green, Building Innovative Capacity.

15 IBISWorld, “Industry Outlook”.

24

16 Gershon Nimbalker, Jasmin Mawson and Clare Cremen, The 2016 Australian Fashion

Report: The Truth Behind the Barcode, Baptist World Aid Australia,

https://www.baptistworldaid.org.au/assets/Be-Fair-Section/FashionReport.pdf.

17 Cue Clothing Company, You and Cue – The Lives of a Label Made in Australia (Sydney:

Cue Clothing Co., 2009).

18 Vicki Steggall, Anything Can Happen ... Sportsgirl: The Bardas Years (Richmond,

Victoria: Hardie Grant Books, 2015).

19 Steggall, Anything Can Happen, 6.

20 Nanette Carter, “’She’s Not a Store, She’s So Much More’: Sportsgirl, The Brand and the

Social Construction of Young Women in 1960s Australia,” Proceedings of the 2004

Futureground Design Research Society International Conference, Vol. 2 (Melbourne:

Swinburne University of Technology, 2004), http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/2340.

21 Carter, “She’s a Store”.

22 Alice Payne, “Inspiration Sources for Australian Fast Fashion Design: Tapping into

Consumer Desire,” Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 20, no. 2: 191-207.

23 Jane Harper, “Sussan and Sportsgirl Owner Naomi Milgrom Has $30 Million Payday,” The

Courier-Mail, April 24, 2015, http://www.couriermail.com.au/business/sussan-and-sportsgirl-

owner-naomi-milgrom-has-30-million-payday/news-

story/38bf8cc5eb1e3c75b99c116685dc242c.

24 Helen O’Neill, David Jones’ 175 Years (Sydney: NewSouth Publishing, 2013).

25 O’Neill, David Jones.

26 Louise Douglas, “Representing Colonial Australia at British, American and European

International Expositions,” recollections, 3, no. 1 (nd),

http://recollections.nma.gov.au/issues/vol_3_no_1/papers/representing_colonial_australia;

Nadia Buick, “Fashion Exhibitions in Queensland: A Short History,” The Fashion Archives,

25

Issue 6, http://thefashionarchives.org/?fashion_smarts=a-short-history-of-fashion-exhibitions-

in-queensland.

27 Margaret Maynard, “’The Wishful Feeling About Curves’: Fashion, Femininity and the

‘New Look’ in Australia,” Journal of Design History, 8, no. 1 (1995): 48.

28 Maynard, “The Wishful Feeling”, 49-50.

29 Nadia Buick, “Up Close and Personal: Art and Fashion in the Museum,” Art Monthly

Australia, Issue 242, August.

30 Elisabeth Scandetti, Breeches and Bustles: Fashion in South Australia, 1881-1981,

exhibition catalogue (Adelaide: Art Gallery of South Australia, 1978); Manly Art Gallery,

Necks to Nothing: The Colonial History of Bathing, exhibition catalogue, Manly: Manly Art

Gallery, 1986; Sandi Clarke, Dressed to Kill, 1935-1950: The Impact of World War 2 on

Queensland Women’s Dress, exhibition catalogue (Brisbane: University Art Museum,

University of Queensland, 1986); Stephen Rainbird, Paula Stafford and the Bikini, exhibition

catalogue, (The Centre Gallery: Gold Coast, 1988).

31 Jane de Teliga, “Introduction”, in Linda Jackson: The Art of Fashion (Sydney: Fontana,

1987), 9-22; Jane de Teliga, Art Knits: Contemporary Knitwear by Australian Designers

(Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1988); Jane de Teliga, Australian Fashion: The

Contemporary Art (Sydney: Powerhouse Museum, 1989).

32 Maynard, Out of Line; Maynard, “Miss Scott.”

33 Bonnie English, Tokyo Vogue: Japanese/Australian Fashion Exhibition (Brisbane:

Brisbane City Gallery, Griffith University and Queensland College of Art, 1999).

34 Robyn Daw, Architects of Glamour + Masters of Style: Excerpts From a Century of

Fashion Photography, Brisbane: Queensland University of Technology, 2003).

35 Danielle Whitfield, Katie Pye: Clothes for Modern Lovers (Melbourne: National Gallery of

Victoria, 2007).

26

36 Peter McNeil et al., Easton Pearson (Brisbane: Queensland Art Gallery, 2009).

37 Laura Jocic, Linda Jackson: Bush Couture (Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria,

2011).

38 Glynis Jones, Faith Fashion Fusion: Muslim Women’s Style in Australia (Sydney:

Powerhouse Publishing, 2012).

39 Catriona Fisk, The Bride Wore White: 200 Years of Bridal Fashion at Miegunyah House

Museum (Brisbane: Queensland Women’s Historical Association, 2013).

40 Catriona Fisk, Connecting Threads: Tracing Fashion, Fabric and Everyday Life at

Newstead House (Brisbane: The Board of Trustees of Newstead House, 2016).

41 Paola Di Trocchio et al., 200 Years of Australian Fashion (Melbourne: National Gallery of

Victoria, 2016).

42 Margaret Maynard, “Exhibition Review: Easton Pearson,” Fashion Theory, 15, no. 3

(2011): 390.

43 Cedric Flower, Duck and Cabbage Tree: A Pictorial History of Clothes in Australia, 1788-

1914 (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1968); Norma Martyn, The Look: Australian Women in

Their Fashion (Sydney: Cassell Australia, 1976); Scandetti, Breeches and Bustles; Marion

Fletcher, Costume in Australia 1788-1901 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1984).

44 Elina Mackay, The Great Aussie Fashion (McMahon’s Point, Sydney: Kevin Weldon &

Associates, 1984); Australian Fashion Design (McMahon’s Point, Sydney: Kevin Weldon &

Associates, 1985); Fashion Australia (Rushcutters Bay, Sydney: Elina Mackay Publishing,

1987); Alexandra Joel, Best Dressed: 200 years of Australian Fashion (Sydney: Collins,

1984); Parade: The Story of Australian Fashion (Sydney: HarpersCollins, 1998); Margaret

Maynard, Fashioned From Penury; Robyn Healy, From Couture to Chaos: Fashion From

the 1960s to Now From the Collection of the National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne:

National Gallery of Victoria, 1996).

27

45 Jennifer Craik, “Australian Fashion and Dress: Unpicking the Study of ‘Manly

Bushwackers’ and ‘Sartorial Sandinistas’”, unpublished paper, 2007; Patty Huntington,

“Sartorial Sandinistas,” The Bulletin, September 30 (1997).

46 S. Dicks, “Jumbana D,” in A Talent for Tourism: Stories About Indigenous People in

Tourism (Canberra: Commonwealth Department of Tourism, 1994), 16-18; Maynard, Out of

Line, 149-153; Amanda Hayman, “A Brief Redress of Indigenous Fashion in Australia,” The

Fashion Archives, Issue 3 (2013), http://thefashionarchives.org/?fashion_smarts=a-brief-

redress-of-indigenous-fashion-in-australia.

47 Maynard, Out of Line; Jenny Kee, A Big Life (Camberwell, Victoria: Lantern, 2006);

Jennifer Craik and Prudence Black, eds, “Australian Fashion Perspectives”, Fashion Theory,

13, no. 4 (2009); Mitchell Oakley Smith, Fashion: Australian and New Zealand Designers

(Fishermans Bend, Victoria: Thames & Hudson Australia, 2010); Bonnie English and Liliana

Pomazan, eds, Australian Fashion Unstitched. The Last 60 Years (Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 2010); Nadia Buick and Madeline King, Remotely Fashionable: A Story of

Subtropical Style (Brisbane: The Fashion Archives, 2015); and Di Trocchio et al., 200 Years.

48 Alison Lurie, The Language of Clothes (London: Heinemann, 1981), 105.

49 Jennifer Craik, “Sandinistas”; “Is Australian Fashion and Dress Distinctively Australian?,”

Fashion Theory 13, no. 4 (2009): 409-442); Craik and Black, “Australian Fashion

Perspectives,”; Margaret Maynard, “What is ‘Australian’ Fashion Photography? – A

Dilemma,” Fashion Theory 13, no. 4 (2009): 443-460.

50 Edwina McCann, “Editor’s Letter,” Vogue (Australia), April (2016): 54.

51 Mario Testino, “A Letter From Mario Testino,” Vogue Australia, April (2016): 58, 62.

52 Luke Leitch, “Wizards of Odd,” Vogue Australia, April (2016): 83-86.

53 Paola Di Trocchio, “Introduction: 200 Years of Australian Fashion,” Gallery March-April

(Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 2016b): 30-31; “Introduction,” in Di Trocchio, 200

28

Years, 1-9; Janice Breen Burns, “From Dior to Dinnigan,” Gallery March-April (Melbourne:

National Gallery of Victoria, 2016): 32-33; Maynard, “Miss Scott”.

54 Mel Campbell, “From Colonial Gowns to Collette Dinnigan: How Australian Fashion

Shook Off its Cultural Cringe,” The Guardian March 15 (2016),

http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2016/mar/15/200-years-of-australian-fashion-review-

an-arc-towards-satorial-nationalism; Hannah Clifton, “200 Years of Sequins, Glamour and

Funky Style,” Mojo, March 18 (2016), http://mojonews.com.au/mojo-reviews-200-years-of-

australian-fashion/; Veronica Jenkinson, “Talking Shop with the Exhibition Curator of ‘200

Years of Australian Fashion’,” Fashion Journal, March 4 (2016),

http://fashionjournal.com.au/fashion/features/talking-shop-exhibition-curator-200-years-

australian-fashion; Liz Juniper, “200 Years of Australian Fashion,” ArtsHub, March 15

(2016), http://visual.artshub.com.au/news-article/reviews/museums/liz-juniper/200-years-of-

australian-fashion-250785; Carolyn McDowell, “200 Years of Australian Fashion – Jo’s Trip

Down Memory Lane,” The Culture Concept Circle, March 16 (2016a),

http://www.thecultureconcept.com/circle/200-years-of-australian-fashion-jos-trip-down-

memory-lane; “200 Years of Australian Fashion, Colonialism to Modernity,” The Culture

Concept Circle, March 9 (2016b), http://www.thecultureconcept.com/circle/200-years-of-

australian-fashion-colonialism-to-modernity; Penny Webb, “‘200 Years of Australian

Fashion: National Gallery of Victoria Survey Reflects Women’s Sartorial Ambitions,” The

Sydney Morning Herald, March 24 (2016), http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-

design/200-years-of-australian-fashion-national-gallery-of-victoria-survey-reflects-womens-

sartorial-ambitions-20160324-gnq21c.html.

55 Maynard, “Status”; Nadia Buick, “Glamour: 1920s-1960s,” in Di Trocchio, 200 Years, 44-

56.

56 Paola Di Trocchio, “Independence: 1970s-1990s,” in Di Trocchio, 200 Years, 82-94.

29

57 Penny Webb, “Dark Wonderland Review: Toni Maticevski’s Beautiful and Bizarre

Designs a Revelation,” The Sydney Morning Herald, August 23, 2016,

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/toni-maticevski-unveils-his-dark-

wonderland-of-fashion-at-bendigo-art-gallery-20160812-gqrh0s.html; Glynnis Traill-Nash,

“The Buzz Around Fashion Designer Toni Maticevski Keeps Growing. Why?,” The

Australian Magazine, August 27, 2016, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/weekend-

australian-magazine/a-cut-above/news-story/1542ae69e1804729d735b881c0b573df; Bendigo

Art Gallery, “Toni Maticevski: Dark Wonderland,” Arts Review, August 23, 2016,

http://artsreview.com.au/toni-maticevski-dark-wonderland/.

58 Glynnis Traill-Nash, “At 66, Fashion Designer Jenny Kee’s Time Has Come Again,” The

Australian, June 15, 2013, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/weekend-australian-

magazine/at-66-fashion-designer-jenny-kees-time-has-come-again/story-e6frg8h6-

1226663795988; Larissa Romensky and Fiona Parker, “Australian Fashion Icons Linda

Jackson and Jenny Kee Exhibit in Bendigo,” ABC News Central Victoria, September 9, 2016,

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-09/australian-fashion-icons-exhibit-in-

bendigo/7831348; Natalie Croxon, “Exhibition of Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson Designs

Opens in Bendigo,” Bendigo Advertiser, August 11, 2016,

http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/4090104/trailblazers-on-show-photos/; Amy

Ripley, “Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson, as Contemporary as Ever,” D*Hub, 2016,

http://www.dhub.org/jenny-kee-and-linda-jackson-contemporary-as-ever/.

59 Harper, “Sussan”.

60 Lise Skov, “Dreams of Small Nations in a Polycentric Fashion World,” Fashion Theory 15,

no. 2 (2011): 137-156; Sarah Harris, “The Rise and Rise of Australian Fashion,” The Weekly

Review, February 29 (2016), http://www.theweeklyreview.com.au/meet/the-rise-and-rise-of-

australian-fashion/.

30

APPENDIX

EXHIBITIONS ABOUT AUSTRALIAN FASHION

1978: Breeches and Bustles: Fashion in South Australia, 1881-1981 – Art Gallery of South

Australia, Adelaide.

1985-1986: Necks to Nothing: The Colonial History of Bathing - Manly Art Gallery, Sydney

1986: Dressed to Kill, 1935-1950: The Impact of WW2 on Queensland Women’s Dress -

Queensland University Art Museum, Brisbane

1988: Paula Stafford and the Bikini – Centre Gallery, Gold Coast

1989-1990: Australian Fashion: The Contemporary Art - Powerhouse/Museum of Art and

Applied Sciences, Sydney

1993: Dressed to Kill: 100 Years of Fashion – Australian National Gallery, Canberra

1996: Shmith, Athol. Fashion Photography from the 1940s to the 1970s – National Gallery of

Victoria, Melbourne

1996: Couture to Chaos: Fashion from the 1960s to Now - National Gallery of Victoria,

Melbourne

1996: Prue Acton. Racing Ahead. Melbourne Cup Outfits 1979-1991 – RMIT Exhibition,

Melbourne

1999: Tokyo Vogue – Griffith University/Brisbane City Gallery, Brisbane

2003: Architects of Glamour + Masters of Style – Queensland University of Technology,

Brisbane

2004: Akira Isogawa: Printemps-Été - National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2005: Martin Grant, Paris - National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2006: The Paris End: Photography, Fashion and Glamour: Excerpts from a Century of

Fashion - National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2007: Katie Pye: Clothes for Modern Lovers, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Manuscript (in Word format)

2007: Fashion from Fleece. 200 Years of Australian Wool in Fashion – Powerhouse/

Museum of Art and Applied Sciences, Sydney

2009: Easton Pearson – Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane

2009: In Fashion: Dressing Up Brisbane – Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane

2009: Katie Pye – Artisan Gallery, Brisbane

2009: Together Alone: Australian and New Zealand Fashion, National Gallery of Victoria,

Melbourne

2009: Together Alone – Material Byproduct – National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2010-2011: Australian Made: 100 Years of Fashion, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2011: ManStyle: Men + Fashion - National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2012: Faith, Fashion, Fusion: Muslim Women’s Style in Australia – Powerhouse/ Museum of

Art and Applied Sciences, Sydney

2012: Ballet and Fashion – National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2012: Linda Jackson Bush Couture - National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2012: Flash Women - State Library of Queensland, Brisbane

2012: A Sense of Occasion: 50 Years of Party Dresses - Rockhampton Art Gallery,

Rockhampton

2012: Flashback: 160 Years of Australian Fashion Photography - State Library of New

South Wales, Sydney

2012-2013: Gwen Gillam: Dressed by the Best - Queensland Museum, Brisbane

2013: Toni Matecevski - National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2015-2016: Collette Dinnigan Unlaced – Powerhouse/ Museum of Art and Applied Sciences,

Sydney

2015: Express Yourself: Romance was Born for Kids - National Gallery of Victoria,

Melbourne

2016: 200 Years of Australian Fashion - National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2016: Henry Talbot: 1960s Fashion Photographer – National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2016: Toni Maticevski: Dark Wonderland – Bendigo Art Gallery

2016: Flamingo Park and Beyond – Bendigo Post Office Gallery

1

Fashioning Australian: Recent Reflections on the Australian style in Contemporary

Fashion1

Manuscript (in Word format)

2

Abstract

The concept of Australian fashion as a distinctive style and cultural preoccupation has been

long contested. Yet, historical records and contemporary consumer behaviour show that

fashion has been integral to the formation of national identity and sense of self. Since

European settlement, there have been periods when Australians have embraced and promoted

Australian style as unique and not merely derivative of overseas (mostly European and

American) trends. This article traces the development of a discourse about Australian fashion

to contextualize a number of recent publications and exhibitions about Australian fashion that

explore various aspects of its history, development, distinctiveness and future. The argument

is that they are building collectively the framework for a revitalized perception of the

significance and potential of Australian fashion in the global fashion context.

Keywords

Australian fashion; fashion theory; fashion industry; fashion retailers; fashion exhibitions

3

Introduction: Australian fashion under the spotlight

The theme of this article is that Australian fashion is increasingly being recognized as a

significant cultural institution and practice in contemporary Australia. Signs of this include

the growth in exhibitions and diverse publications about Australian fashion hotting up since

the 1990s but escalating in the 2000s. The year, 2016, has been no exception with a number

of events suggesting that fashion was in the air of Australian culture in a particularly assertive

way. The National Gallery of Victoria staged the 200 Years of Australian Fashion Exhibition

as well as the Henry Talbot: Fashion Photographer exhibition; Vogue (Australia) published a

bumper issue edited by internationally renowned fashion photographer, Mario Testino; the

Powerhouse staged Collette Dinnigan Unlaced featuring the works of the first Australian

fashion designer to show at Paris Fashion Week; while the Bendigo Art Gallery held the Toni

Maticevski: Dark Wonderland exhibition, and the Bendigo Post Office Gallery staged

Flamingo Park and Beyond celebrating a retrospective of the iconic fashion collaborations of

Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson.

Coinciding with these landmark events has been an explosion of academic, critical, social and

tourist publications about Australian fashion. This attention to fashion – previously a much

maligned and neglected sphere of Australian culture – is in many respects an unlikely

development given that the contemporary Australian fashion industry has been in a growing

state of crisis since the 1980s. A perfect storm of factors has contributed to the shrinking

local industry: the abolition of tariffs on imported apparel; decline of the Australian Textile,

Clothing and Footwear manufacturing industry and textile production and development; the

collapse of innumerable established designers, labels and retailers; growing competition with

imported brands and retailers; increasing online fashion consumption; and erosion of already

contentious employment rights and conditions in the fashion industry. Amid a series of

government and industry reports charting this unfolding scenario, public and academic

4

attention to the cultural, if not economic, significance of Australian fashion has risen even as

its survival is under threat – at least in its current structure.

Publications about Australian fashion have addressed these and other issues in a range of

publishing venues: articles and features in Australian fashion magazines; a number of “state

of the industry” reports; histories of Australian fashion retailers; biographies and overviews

of Australian fashion designers; the staging of fashion exhibitions with the publication of

accompanying catalogues; and diverse media, public and critical fashion commentary and

scholarship. The conundrum as to why there has been so much attention to the industry when

it is arguably on its last legs has prompted speculation that perhaps, rather than constituting

an obituary, these publications herald a new phase of Australian fashion awareness that is

accompanying significant re-alignments as to the potential of Australian fashion to survive

and prosper in the global fashion context.2 Arguably, a proliferation of fashion design,

innovation, experimentation, styling, and new mix of retailing approaches has reached a new

state of maturity. To explore these themes, this article seeks to place a set of diverse writings

into an analytic context that charts their contributions to understanding the state of Australian

fashion and its likely futures.

Perspectives on Australian fashion

The publications under consideration here include a diverse range of perspectives about the

industry in the recent past that address the current state of Australian fashion and explore

likely futures.

Australian fashion magazines

Although usually regarded as marginal and recent, there is a history of intense interest in

fashion from the earliest days of settlement.3 For example, fashion was the subject of the

5

social pages of newspapers and magazines from the earliest days with detailed descriptions of

the outfits of the social elite and extensive coverage of new fashions available in stores.

Drawings and later photographs were also an important source of fashion inspiration

throughout colonial days. The letters and diaries of women – especially those in regional

areas – also attest to the obsession with matters of dress.4 There was a palpable hunger for

news of the latest overseas trends that were influencing the fashions of the colonies. Business

boomed for dressmakers, milliners and tailors. Fabrics were imported from the first days first

from Britain and later from India and East Asia including lighter fabrics such as muslin for

warm climate apparel. Business was brisk for tailors and dressmakers. For example,

Brisbane’s Miss Scott “made almost all the elaborate gowns for a local Government House

ball in 1870. Not one was imported.”5 This was an extraordinary achievement and

demonstrated the resilience of the local dressmaking industry.

The purported first fashion magazine published in Australia was Weigel’s Journal of Fashion

1880-1915 followed by Madame Weigel’s Journal of Fashion 1915-1950 which

complemented the Australia’s first dress-pattern service that started in 1877.6 Other fashion

focused magazines included the Australian Home Journal (1894-1983) and The Home (1920-

1942)7 which, in its first edition, it proclaimed that: An interesting and considerable section

of The Home will be dedicated to the cult of dress, and the best illustrations which art can

compass will keep readers in touch with the trend of fashion and the last requirements of

feminine adornment.”8

In many ways, The Home set the tone for fashion journalism in Australia with its high quality

production values and promotion of modernism. It had lively feature complemented by

impressive ”art” photography s on a range of areas concerned with fashion, design,

decoration and lifestyle targeted at the aspirational middle class. This was in stark contrast to

other magazines of the time, such as the Australian Women’s Weekly which was first

6

published in 1939. Although it rapidly became a bible for Australian women about all aspects

of feminine, homemaker, wifely and maternal matters, as well as covering social and political

events and a generous dose of fashion, the Women’s Weekly was conservative in tone,

prescribing appropriate behavioural codes for women in their roles as subservient wives and

mothers. The postwar period saw a blossoming of fashion publications with the youth-

oriented Flair beginning in 1956 (-1970s) which was aimed at a fashion-forward 16-25 year

old audience, followed by the publication of Vogue Australia in 1959, only the fourth

national edition after the French, American and British editions: “This, in itself, was

extraordinary. Australia was on the other side of the world, and at that time had a population

of only ten million people. It was hardly a fashion capital – or anything approaching it.”9

The publication of Vogue constituted a major shot in the arm for the idea of Australian

fashion and the nascent fashion industry. Other fashion-related magazines followed, such as

Ragtrader (1972-), Mode (1977-1997), Australian Style (1993-2003), Marie Claire (1995-),

Harper’s Bazaar (Australia) (1998-) and Madison (2005-2013).

In this context, a number of coffee table books have celebrated the role of the main

Australian fashion magazines: the first 50 years of fashion in Vogue, the first 20 years of

defining “Australian style” in Harper’s Bazaar, and the first 50 years of fashion in the The

Australian Women’s Weekly.10 The Vogue book traces the way in which the magazine

developed “its own distinctly Australian voice” from a “Eurocentric” approach to “the

exuberant, wildly imaginative Australianness that bloomed in the late 1970s ... to the

confident globalism of today ... [and] to celebrate that astonishing blossoming.”11

In a related way, the Harper’s Bazaar book asks “what is Australian style?” by exploring

“people’s ideas of what Australian style means to them ...[and] proving that the definition of

Australian style is different for everyone” encompassing “an adventurer’s spirit,” “the

7

uncompromising, ironic vision” of our designers, “the bright tropical colours,” “the dusty

earthy tones,” “the glitz of a nation that knows how to party” and “the utilitarian practicality”

of Australians who “prefer to be out of clothes rather than in them.”12

In the case of the Australian Women’s Weekly, style and fashion have been a key feature of

every issue as well as dominating the cover, thereby illustrating through time how Australians

developed a sense of style and how fashion emanated from, and was a response to, the social,

cultural and political currents of each successive era. As Thomas writes:

From expensive, socialite-modelled European couture of the 1930s to austere wartime

make-do styles, from the alluring New Look of the 1950s to the androgyny of the

1960s and the freewheeling hippie chic of the 1970s, The Weekly has chronicled the

evolution of mainstream Australian fashion, regularly juxtaposing fashion

photography alongside coverage of the cultural and political events that have shaped

us.13

Together, these books offer snapshots of particular times and looks that are frozen in selected

images from selected issues of the magazines. These mark a milestone in fashion publishing

and perhaps denote a new chapter in fashion journalism and reportage possibly in response to

the avalanche of electronic and digital fashion coverage.

Australian fashion industry reports

There have been also numerous reports about the state of the Textile Clothing and Footwear

industry since Roy Green’s 2008 report Building Innovative Capacity which recommended

major reforms to build up design and innovation aspects of the industry.14 The most relevant

publications are the regular IBISWorld Industry reports on industry performance and the

annual Baptist World Aid reports evaluating corporate commitment to ethical and sustainable

8

practices in the Australian fashion industry. IBISWorld concludes that the industry “will need

to develop strong retailing strategies and position themselves in niche markets to flourish in

this increasingly competitive environment.”15 Assessing the uptake of Corporate Social

Responsibility (CSR) among 200 fashion companies, the 2016 report concludes that, while

there had been an improvement, only a fellow Australia fashion brands have achieved an “A”

rating (Cotton On, H&M, Etiko and Audrey Blue) while the majority of companies are not on

the ethical bandwagon in any tangible sense.16

These reports share a picture of the increasingly competitive global context of the fashion

industry, characterised by digital disruption and changing consumer-driven fashion cultures

that are forcing brands and retailers to adopt new practices, on the one hand, and the

declining local industry and sustainability/ethical issues challenging current practices, on the

other hand. Much faith has been given to the challenge of Australian fashion to innovate in

niche design, manufacture and retailing to appeal to domestic and international consumers

alike.

Australian fashion retailers

Meanwhile several popular histories of fashion retailers have been published. These include

You and Cue – the lives of a label made in Australia “celebrating 40 years of fashion” and its

formative impact on the lives of generations of customers, staff and fans which are

characterised as a family or community of shared interests.17 Established in 1968 – at the time

of the “youthquake” fashion revolution – Cue brought the fashions from Swinging London

and popular music to Australian shores offering young women their own distinctive cutting

edge fashions for the first time. The book was generated by photos and stories from

customers who identified with Cue as central to “important moments” in their lives and over

9

the years has become regarded as a heritage label that customers have relied on to stock their

wardrobes and fit their changing lifestyles.

More recently, Vicki Steggall, the grand-daughter of the founder of Sportsgirl, published a

memoir titled Anything can Happen ... Sportsgirl: the Bardas years documenting and

celebrating the “special role” that the Bardas family played between 1947 and 1994.18 The

book discusses the strategies whereby Sportsgirl provided customers with “a fresh attitude

and fashion freedom” by sourcing new fashion from overseas and adapting these for

Australian customers and lifestyle.19

In post-WW2 Australia, the culture of the 1950s and 1960s was undergoing a transformation

including the birth of consumer culture and desire for wider range of fashionable goods than

was available in department stores. Sportsgirl adopted American and European marketing

tactics, sort out agents and suppliers of fresh fashions, and targeted the 15 to 24 year old

fashion consumer who, until then, had been ignored by fashions that were aimed at either

children or women. The teen group was also a growing demographic and one that benefitted

from having disposable income to spend on the new retail offerings.

Like Cue, Sportsgirl distinguished itself from department stores that largely promoted

cautious fashion trends and staples that sold well each season and targeted established market

segments. Department stores were also slow to recognise the development of the teenage

market and emergence of youth culture largely driven by popular music and cinema stars.

Young people enjoyed new educational and employment opportunities as well as the

opportunity to travel overseas which opened up whole new vistas and life choices. Young

women also benefitted from new birth control options and the rise of feminism.

Marketing, advertising and other forms of “in your face” promotion were central to this

strategy. Sportsgirl was also important in identifying and buying from young new designers

10

which was instrumental in developing a fashion design culture in Australia.20 Not only was

Sportsgirl “one of Australia’s first youth fashion brands” but has been an enduring symbol of

Australian femininity as “sexy, independent and ready for adventure” as lifestyle aspirations

of young women changed.21 Visual merchandising was crucial to both Cue and Sportsgirl,

copying from the fashion boutique techniques of Swinging London and leisure and casual

fashion from America. Promotion and marketing that coordinated the fashions with

accessories, store design and promotion, and bold constantly updated advertising campaigns

created recognizable total looks that appealed to the loyal consumer, known internally as “our

“our girl”.22

Cue and Sportsgirl were instrumental also in training and promoting a generation of fashion

designers who understood and appealed to this new consumer market. Between the 1960s and

the 1980s, a raft of young-at-heart designers dominated the fashion pages, including Prue

Acton, Norma Tullo, Trent Nathan, Mike Treloar, Kenneth Pirrie, Mary Shackman, Jill

Clegg, Rae Ganim and Stuart Membery. While Sportsgirl had its ups and downs, it remained

a viable enterprise until the recession of the 1980s from which it never recovered in its

existing form. In 1994, Sportsgirl was sold under bankers’ orders and had a rocky period

before being bought by Naomi Milgrom who has restored its fortunes by reinstating its core

values and fashion sensibility.23

Complementing these books on independent fashion retailing chains, in 2013, the major

department store, David Jones, commissioned a comprehensive and glossy history of its first

150 years. Drawing on its extensive archives, the book charts the history of the store and the

significance of the cultural role that it has played in Australian identity and shaping fashion

consumption practices.24 Established in 1838, David Jones is the oldest department store in

Australia and the “oldest in the world still trading under its original name.”25 Its main

competitor, Myer, was not established until 1900. Targeting a middle class customer and

11

wooing wealthier ones where possible as special customers, David Jones served both the city

and far flung towns and communities. This was enhanced from 1873 with the publication of

catalogues that made everything from fashion to furniture and home goods available

anywhere. David Jones was also one of the first Australian stores to introduce store and credit

cards encouraging consumers to buy now and pay later.

Together, these retail histories are aimed at establishing a brand “family” or community

(articulated by design houses as defining the target customer) as the backdrop to recording

changing images to mark a moment (a “writing on the wall”) moment that appears to be

heralding major changes that are underway or ahead as fashion retail business models seek to

adapt to new conditions and global competition.

Catalogues for Australian-focused fashion exhibitions

From the late 19th century, fashion was on show at International exhibitions as well as

agricultural and industrial shows both in Australia and as part of colonial exhibitions

overseas.26 In addition, displays of new fashions and fashion shows were a staple feature of

fairs, fetes and other special events from early days. Interestingly, Australian fashion has not

only been influenced by English trends but also by European (especially Paris), other colonial

(such as India) and increasingly American fashion (from the 1940s). Buyers made overseas

trips to buy the latest fashions which were faithfully reproduced and marketed as Paris (and

even as named designer rip-offs). A major turning point was the staging of fashion shows

featuring French fashions and models (sponsored by the Australian Women’s Weekly) from

1946, the first of four annual parades:

The overarching intention of staging the shows was to stimulate the embryonic

fashion industry in Australia... by challenging it with examples of high quality, by

12

instructing local designers on overseas styles, and by undercutting the Americans who

were trying to assert their fashion influence in competition with the French.27

While America continued to export more casual styles and modified versions of Hollywood

fashion, the local fashion industry prospered from producing “reproductions of French

fashions” and developing a Paris Fashion Pattern service that enabled Australian women to

adapt and make up their own versions of French fashions.28 The energetic promotion of

fashion proliferated into the 1950s and 1960s but it took a while before museums recognised

the cultural significance of fashion within their hallowed walls and object-centred collections.

Items of dress were treated and curated as examples of the fashions of previous eras as mere

cultural artefacts that complemented more serious museum items.

The first Australian-fashion focused museological shows in Australia date from the 1970s.29

Among the earliest were : 1978 Breeches and Bustles: Fashion in South Australia, 1881-

1981; 1985-1986 Necks to Nothing: The Colonial History of Bathing; 1986 Dressed to Kill,

1935-1950: The Impact of World War 2 on Queensland Women’s Dress; and 1988 Paula

Stafford and the Bikini.30 In the late 1980s, the Museum of Arts and Applied Sciences held

several fashion exhibitions including 1987 Linda Jackson: The Art of Fashion, 1988 Art

Knits, and 1989-1990 Australian Fashion – The Contemporary Art.31 However, most of these

exhibitions were at small or regional galleries suggesting that interest in fashion was as much

a regional preoccupation, perhaps also reinforcing the fact that fashion in Australia has shown

distinctive local fashions in different states as well as different geographic and climatic

regions.32

Since the 1990s, there have been at least 30 exhibitions about Australian fashion in

mainstream galleries and museums. There have been many other exhibitions at historic

houses, National Trust venues, and the like. Exhibitions have been framed around a range of

13

themes: historic overviews, individual designers, distinctively Australian fashions, and

cultural contexts (see Appendix).

A by-product of some of these exhibitions has been the catalogues which are often the only

lasting memento of these events. The most lasting of these are exhibition catalogues for

shows including Japanese fashion influence on Australian fashion;33 Australian fashion

photography;34 Katie Pye;35 Easton Pearson;36 Linda Jackson;37 Muslim fashion;38 wedding

dresses;39 and the Newstead House clothing collection;40 and 200 years of Australian

fashion.41

Of these, three stand out for different reason. First, the catalogue for Easton Pearson is an

extended overview of “one of Australia’s great fashion labels” that has had lasting national

and international success;42 second, the catalogue for the Connecting Threads exhibition

provides a meticulous investigation both of objects in the collection but painstaking detective

work in piecing together provenance, ownership and linking these elements into telling the

lived experiences of garments and the people who wore them; and third, the 200 Years

exhibition which presents quirky glimpses of aspects of the exhibition in the context of

developing a narrative about the history and cultural coherence of Australian fashion since

settlement to the present day (although the period from settlement in 1788 and 2016 is

actually 228 years).

Overall, these Australian fashion exhibitions piece together snatches of the material culture of

clothes as evidence of distinctive Australian fashion histories and tales from local, regional,

national and international contexts and impacts. Sadly, Australia still lacks a dedicated

museum or gallery collecting and exhibiting clothing and fashion although perhaps the

dispersed nature of the Australian population and strong regional themes that come through

exhibitions to date conspire against the logic of a “national” fashion repository.

14

Scholarly publications about Australian fashion cultures and designers

Scholarly writing about Australian fashion reflects a growing interest both in reflecting on the

state of the industry and the phenomenon of Australian fashion culture. Reflective

publications date from the 1960s, with the key texts being Cedric Flower’s Duck and

Cabbage Tree: A Pictorial History of Clothes in Australia, 1788-1914 (1968); Norma

Martyn’s The Look: Australian in their Fashion (1976); Elizabeth Scandetti’s Breeches and

Bustles: Fashion in South Australia, 1881-1981 (1978); and Marion Fletcher’s Costume in

Australia 1788-1901 (1984).43 The 1980s and 1990s witnessed the publication of numerous

titles by Elina Mackay; Alexandra Joel; Margaret Maynard; and Robyn Healy.44

There was also a significant increase in catalogues and chapters by curators and journalists,

as well as feature columns by fashion journalists (such as Diana Bagnall, Lenore Nicklin,

Miriam Cosic, and Marion Hume). In 1997, Patsy Huntington published an article titled

“Sartorial Sandinistas” which characterised the most definitive account of the distinctiveness

of Australian fashion.45 Indigenous fashion design (often textiles) was also recognised for the

first time as fashion rather than as craft or decorative art.46

By the 2000s, perhaps fanned by the national euphoria surrounding the Sydney Olympic

Games, there was an explosion of publications about Australian fashion. These included:

Maynard’s Out of Line: Australian Women and Style (2001); Jenny Kee’s A Big Life (2006);

Craik and Black’s special journal issue, “Australian Fashion Perspectives” (2009); Oakley

Smith’s Fashion: Australian and New Zealand Designers (2010); English and Pomazan’s

Australian Fashion Unstitched: The Last 60 Years (2010/1012); Buick and King’s Remotely

Fashionable: A Story of Subtropical Style (2015); and Di Trocchio et al.’s 200 Years of

Australian Fashion (2016d).47 Of these, Maynard’s masterful Out of Line remains the most

15

comprehensive and intriguing story and analysis of the development of a fashion sensibility

in Australia.

Overall, these scholarly book-length publications serve to offer contextual and critical

perspectives on key aspects of the structure of, and processes within, the Australian fashion

industry, as well as records of the changing panoply of major designers and labels (who often

come and go before their stories are told), and generally charting the character of regional

fashion cultures and industries within the broader Australian context.

Themes and preoccupations of writings about Australian fashion

Does Australia have a fashion sensibility? American social commentator, Alison Lurie,

clearly thought so. In her book, The Language of Clothes, she wrote:

Australians ... can often be recognised by their fondness for garments suggesting the

pursuit of kangaroos across the outback: khaki shirts and jackets, clumsy sheepskin

vests, high leather boots and the famous bush hats. These clothes may be worn by

women as well as men… even the most respectable man is essentially a manly

bushwacker.48

Perhaps reflecting Lurie’s distant observations, there have been two main themes written

about Australian fashion: first, a preoccupation with whether the distinctiveness of Australian

fashion, and, second, in what ways the Australia fashion industry is unique.49 The underlying

theme of much writing has been whether fashion in Australia is simply derivative of

European (and North American) fashion perhaps reflecting the “cultural cringe” feeling

expressed by many Australian commentators about the place of Australia in the world. To

this end, considerable energies have been devoted to trying to define what is distinctive about

Australian fashion and whether it matters.

16

There is increasing evidence of both an awareness of fashion and a palpable stylistic

sensibility from colonial times (even if it was considered too colourful, showy or “flash” as

contemporary overseas observers decried) as well as the early development of elements of a

fashion industry that both belie the claim that Australia has no fashion and that what passed

for fashion was not distinctive. Even if Australian fashion is not markedly distinctive or

different from fashion elsewhere, the fact that commentators continue to be preoccupied by

the idea suggests that it is part of, and does contribute to (perhaps underpin), our sense of

national identity and cultural heritage.

As to the second preoccupation with the nature of the Australian fashion industry,

commentators have explored a variety of issues associated with industry structure, industrial

and employment issues, the impact of tariffs and their abolition as part of industry

protection policies, the rise and fall of local apparel manufacturing, and changing patterns of

ownership from extended family and generational arrangements to small-to-medium business

entities, to offshore equity and global corporations. While historically, the role of government

has been crucial to the twists and turns of the Australia fashion industry, as part of industry

restructuring policies, and the employment and infrastructure repercussions. Increasingly,

neither the Australian government nor the fashion industry is not in a position to influence the

influx of global players and fashion brands and retailers. In this context, more speculation

concerns whether the Australian fashion industry has a future and, if so, how will this fit into

the scenario of global fashion labels, brands, industries and transforming supply chains.

What do recent events and publications indicate about the current state of Australian

fashion?

This section turns to positioning several 2016 fashion milestones mentioned earlier. As

bestowing the imprimatur of global recognition, Mario Testino’s special edition of Vogue

17

was an important moment. The Vogue issue was the tenth special issue that Testino has done.

According to the editor, Edwina McCann, Testino wanted to tap into the creativity and “can

do” attitude of Australians, as well as the “positivity, beauty of the landscape, and the

extraordinary light” as well as exploring the “psyche of the Australian male” and Australia’s

“indigenous culture”.50 Testino reflected that he: “approached this issue to begin with [as] a

celebration of the impact of Australia internationally” and “the sense of freedom an

openness” of Australians that accounted for their international success.51 As such, the issue is

about international fashion and Australia in that context with advertisements of luxury brands

but also mid-market and High Street retailers such as H&M.

Symptomatically, the fashion shoots chose major global brands and labels such as Louis

Vuitton, Dior, Raf Simons, Givenchy, Fendi, Armani, Dior, and Chanel, plus some lesser

known labels including (unknown to an Australian audience) Peruvian labels. In all, this issue

was very much about putting Australia into a global framework of fashion, commerce,

marketing and fashion cultures.52 Reflecting Testino’s personal interests, there was a huge

emphasis on the use of (young) Australian male models. Even the cover which features a

female model in the centre front of the image opens out to reveal that she is among four male

models that are in fact the focus of the mise en scene.

Less predictably, the issue included unexpected and lavish special features on connections

between Indigenous Australian and Peruvian identities and their creative practices as well as

considering the transformation of ideas about Australian masculinity from traditional images

of lifesavers, beaches and surfing culture to contemporary vignettes of successful “hip”, sexy

and voyeuristic men and women where the men are as much the object of the spectacle as the

women. In short, this issue goes well beyond the cultural fringe and cringe to locate Vogue

and Australian fashion culture truly in the global space.

18

By contrast, the exhibition, 200 Years of Australian Fashion, presented an extensive and

elaborately staged spectacle charting moments and eras in Australian fashion history from the

collection of the National Gallery of Victoria.53 The exhibition was welcomed but seemed to

be largely disappointing to reviewers and many visitors.54 Some spoke of it being a missed

opportunity that failed to reflect the momentum of how fashion had developed in Australia

and what it represented. Indeed, there were gaps in periods, leaps from one era to another,

uneven curatorial treatment, and uneven descriptions and labelling. Attracting particular

condemnation was the omission of any references to or examples of Indigenous fashion.

Visitors had mixed reactions to the diverse exhibitionary contexts and styles of presentation

in different rooms. One particular omission was the complete absence of fashion from the

1930s to the 1950s. Moreover, the exhibition was also almost exclusively focused on fashion

from Melbourne and Sydney, ignoring fashions in other cities and regions as well as

distinctively Australian genres as such as swimwear and casual lifestyle fashion. Some

commentators suggested that the selection of exhibits would have benefitted from drawing on

other collections of representative styles and looks by borrowing garments from other

museum collections, community-based archives and private collectors.

Above all, the beautifully presented catalogue was strangely tangential to the exhibition

including four discrete chapters, two by Queensland authors55 who seemed to engage more

with the historical narrative revealed by the exhibition items than the introductory and

concluding overview chapters.56 While undoubtedly an important milestone in exhibitions

about Australian fashion, this event shows that there are many more stories about Australian

fashion to be told in future exhibitions.

Curated by what is becoming the key fashion gallery in Australia, the Toni Maticevski

exhibition at Bendigo Art Gallery adopted a distinctive approach in contrast to the earlier

19

Maticevski exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria in 2013. This exhibition drew from

works in the designer’s archive that traced his journey into arguably Australia’s premier

contemporary example of couture. Subtitled Dark Wonderland, the exhibition celebrated the

female body – albeit it as willowy as a whippet -- and androgynous in shape. Maticevski

mostly designs glamour gowns with a twist and excels in complex artisanal techniques with

multiple innovative use and combination of fabrics, textures, colours and generous use of

pleating, tucking and seaming. Welcomed as “beautiful and bizarre”, “an artist with the

abilities of a traditional craftsman” and as “an international fashion icon”, the Maticevski

exhibition traces the maturation of Australian fashion onto the world stage in a similar way to

the Collette Dinnigan Unlaced exhibition held at the Powerhouse.57

Also in Bendigo, the Post Office Gallery featured a small but significant exhibition,

Flamingo Part and Beyond, celebrating the longterm collaborations between perhaps the best

known popular fashion designers, Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson. Best known for their

colourful and irreverent allusions to Australiana, Indigenous culture and cross cultural design

inspirations from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Kee and Jackson set Australian fashion on fire

in the 1980s and 1990s. Although less visible in the intervening years, both continued their

design/art careers, only to be rediscovered in the 2000s resulting in an exhibition, Bush

Couture, showing Jackson’s work at the National Gallery of Victoria in 2012, coinciding with

an archival catwalk of Kee’s work at Melbourne Fashion Week, and subsequent

collaborations with Romance Was Born’s Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales who introduced the

creative verve to a new generation.58

In short, these diverse fashion events have cemented the visibility of contemporary Australian

fashion as a significant cultural practice that is forging new directions amid the revolutions

taking place in global culture.

20

Conclusion: what is the future of fashion discourse, scholarship and exhibitions in

Australia?

Do these diverse developments signal the end of Australian fashion? The mood canvassed in

the publications considered here suggest that they herald a new era in the face of global

fashion players, increasing digital disruption, the loss of manufacturing capability and

extensive overseas sourcing, as well as the impacts of significant social and cultural changes

as Australia repositions itself in the Asian context and beyond.

The publications, exhibitions and events appear to reflect a new alliance and rapprochement

between industry insiders, fashion observers and fashion intellectuals as a nascent design

culture and re-positioning of fashion as part of the cultural and creative industries (as opposed

to the manufacturing industries wherein it languished for decades in policy and statistics

terms) in which consumerism and consumption-driven habits and lifestyles play a central role

that increasingly defines the national psyche and identity.

Together, these publications portend the coming of age of Australian fashion as a global

player. This requires considerable tinkering with business outlooks and models of operation.

As Naomi Milgrom, the owner of the successful Sportsgirl, Susan and Suzanne Grae brands,

has observed, local brands have other advantages of knowing the customers and their

lifestyles by providing “authenticity” and a point of difference as well as developing tangible

ways of knowing and connecting with their customers.59 To this end, the term fashion in

Australia rather than Australian fashion maps out appropriately the contours of the new

fashion cultures and global contexts in which the Australian fashion industry finds itself as

one of the emerging “polycentric” fashion capitals of the world.60

21

ENDNOTES

1 A shorter version of this paper was presented at the 7th Annual International Popcaanz

Conference, Sydney, Australia, June 29 – July 1, 2016.

2 Roy Green, Building Innovative Capacity: Review of the Australian Textile, Clothing and

Footwear Industries (Canberra: Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research

(DIISR), Commonwealth of Australia, 2009);

IBIS World Industry Reports, “Industry at a Glance,” 2016a,

http://clients1.ibisworld.com.au.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/reports/au/industry/ataglance.aspx?e

ntid=407; IBIS World Industry Reports, “Industry Outlook,” Australia Fashion Industry,

2016b,

http://clients1.ibisworld.com.au.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/reports/au/industry/industryoutlook.

aspx?entid=407#IO; IBIS World Industry Reports, “Competitive Landscape,” Australia

Fashion Industry, 2016c,

http://clients1.ibisworld.com.au.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/reports/au/industry/competitivelands

cape.aspx?entid=407; IBIS World Industry Reports, “Industry Performance,” Australia

Fashion Industry,

http://clients1.ibisworld.com.au.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/reports/au/industry/currentperforma

nce.aspx?entid=407.

3 Jane Elliott, “The Politics of Antipodean Dress: Consumer Interests in Nineteenth Century

Victoria,” Journal of Australian Studies 21, no. 52 (1987): 20-33; Margaret Maynard,

Fashioned from Penury (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994b).

4 Margaret Maynard, “’A Great Deal Too Good for the Bush’: Women and the Experience of

Dress in Queensland,” in On the Edge: Women’s Experiences of Queensland, ed. Gail Reekie

(Brisbane: University of Queensland Press: 51-65; Margaret Maynard, Out of Line:

22

Australian Women and Style (Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 2001);

Margaret Maynard, “Miss Scott’s World of Colonial Elegance,” Gallery, March-April

(Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 2016a): 34-35; Margaret Maynard, “Status: 1805-

1900,” in 200 Years of Australian Fashion, ed. Paola Di Trocchio (Melbourne: National

Gallery of Victoria, 2016b): 10-25.

5 Maynard, “Status,” 33.

6 Juliette Peers, “’London, Paris, New York, and Collingwood’: Reconsidering Pre-1945

Australian Fashion,” Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art 10, no. 1 (2009): 96-121.

7 Judith O’Callaghan, ed. The Australian Dream: Design of the Fifties (Sydney: Powerhouse

Publishing, 1993); Julie Oliver, “Let’s Decorate: Fabrics, Colours and Fitting,” in The

Australian Home Beautiful: From Hills Hoist to High Rise (South Yarra Victoria: Hardie

Grant Books, 1999a): 144-159; Julie Oliver, The Australian Home Beautiful: From Hills

Hoist to High Rise (South Yarra Victoria: Hardie Grant Books, 1999b); Kylie Winkworth,

“Followers of Fashion: Dress in the Fifties,” in O’Callaghan, The Australian Dream, 59-73.

8 State Library Victoria, http://guides.slv.vic.gov.au/fashion/australian.

9 Kirstie Clements and Lee Tulloch, eds., In Vogue. 50 Years of Australian Style (Sydney,

HarpersCollins, 2009), vi.

10 Clements and Tulloch, In Vogue; Jamie Huckbody, ed., Harper’s Bazaar Australia.

Australian Style (Sydney: Hearst/ACP, 2009); Deborah Thomas, The Australian Women’s

Weekly Fashion: The First Fifty Years (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 2014).

11 Clements and Tulloch, vi-vii.

12 Huckbody, Harper’s Bazaar Australia, 6.

13 Thomas, The Australian Women’s Weekly, v.

14 Green, Building Innovative Capacity.

15 IBISWorld, “Industry Outlook”.

23

16 Gershon Nimbalker, Jasmin Mawson and Clare Cremen, The 2016 Australian Fashion

Report: The Truth Behind the Barcode, Baptist World Aid Australia,

https://www.baptistworldaid.org.au/assets/Be-Fair-Section/FashionReport.pdf.

17 Cue Clothing Company, You and Cue – The Lives of a Label Made in Australia (Sydney:

Cue Clothing Co., 2009).

18 Vicki Steggall, Anything Can Happen ... Sportsgirl: The Bardas Years (Richmond,

Victoria: Hardie Grant Books, 2015).

19 Steggall, Anything Can Happen, 6.

20 Nanette Carter, “’She’s Not a Store, She’s So Much More’: Sportsgirl, The Brand and the

Social Construction of Young Women in 1960s Australia,” Proceedings of the 2004

Futureground Design Research Society International Conference, Vol. 2 (Melbourne:

Swinburne University of Technology, 2004), http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/2340.

21 Carter, “She’s a Store”.

22 Alice Payne, “Inspiration Sources for Australian Fast Fashion Design: Tapping into

Consumer Desire,” Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 20, no. 2: 191-207.

23 Jane Harper, “Sussan and Sportsgirl Owner Naomi Milgrom Has $30 Million Payday,” The

Courier-Mail, April 24, 2015, http://www.couriermail.com.au/business/sussan-and-sportsgirl-

owner-naomi-milgrom-has-30-million-payday/news-

story/38bf8cc5eb1e3c75b99c116685dc242c.

24 Helen O’Neill, David Jones’ 175 Years (Sydney: NewSouth Publishing, 2013).

25 O’Neill, David Jones.

26 Louise Douglas, “Representing Colonial Australia at British, American and European

International Expositions,” recollections, 3, no. 1 (nd),

http://recollections.nma.gov.au/issues/vol_3_no_1/papers/representing_colonial_australia;

Nadia Buick, “Fashion Exhibitions in Queensland: A Short History,” The Fashion Archives,

24

Issue 6, http://thefashionarchives.org/?fashion_smarts=a-short-history-of-fashion-exhibitions-

in-queensland.

27 Margaret Maynard, “’The Wishful Feeling About Curves’: Fashion, Femininity and the

‘New Look’ in Australia,” Journal of Design History, 8, no. 1 (1995): 48.

28 Maynard, “The Wishful Feeling”, 49-50.

29 Nadia Buick, “Up Close and Personal: Art and Fashion in the Museum,” Art Monthly

Australia, Issue 242, August.

30 Elisabeth Scandetti, Breeches and Bustles: Fashion in South Australia, 1881-1981,

exhibition catalogue (Adelaide: Art Gallery of South Australia, 1978); Manly Art Gallery,

Necks to Nothing: The Colonial History of Bathing, exhibition catalogue, Manly: Manly Art

Gallery, 1986; Sandi Clarke, Dressed to Kill, 1935-1950: The Impact of World War 2 on

Queensland Women’s Dress, exhibition catalogue (Brisbane: University Art Museum,

University of Queensland, 1986); Stephen Rainbird, Paula Stafford and the Bikini, exhibition

catalogue, (The Centre Gallery: Gold Coast, 1988).

31 Jane de Teliga, “Introduction”, in Linda Jackson: The Art of Fashion (Sydney: Fontana,

1987), 9-22; Jane de Teliga, Art Knits: Contemporary Knitwear by Australian Designers

(Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1988); Jane de Teliga, Australian Fashion: The

Contemporary Art (Sydney: Powerhouse Museum, 1989).

32 Maynard, Out of Line; Maynard, “Miss Scott.”

33 Bonnie English, Tokyo Vogue: Japanese/Australian Fashion Exhibition (Brisbane:

Brisbane City Gallery, Griffith University and Queensland College of Art, 1999).

34 Robyn Daw, Architects of Glamour + Masters of Style: Excerpts From a Century of

Fashion Photography, Brisbane: Queensland University of Technology, 2003).

35 Danielle Whitfield, Katie Pye: Clothes for Modern Lovers (Melbourne: National Gallery of

Victoria, 2007).

25

36 Peter McNeil et al., Easton Pearson (Brisbane: Queensland Art Gallery, 2009).

37 Laura Jocic, Linda Jackson: Bush Couture (Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria,

2011).

38 Glynis Jones, Faith Fashion Fusion: Muslim Women’s Style in Australia (Sydney:

Powerhouse Publishing, 2012).

39 Catriona Fisk, The Bride Wore White: 200 Years of Bridal Fashion at Miegunyah House

Museum (Brisbane: Queensland Women’s Historical Association, 2013).

40 Catriona Fisk, Connecting Threads: Tracing Fashion, Fabric and Everyday Life at

Newstead House (Brisbane: The Board of Trustees of Newstead House, 2016).

41 Paola Di Trocchio et al., 200 Years of Australian Fashion (Melbourne: National Gallery of

Victoria, 2016).

42 Margaret Maynard, “Exhibition Review: Easton Pearson,” Fashion Theory, 15, no. 3

(2011): 390.

43 Cedric Flower, Duck and Cabbage Tree: A Pictorial History of Clothes in Australia, 1788-

1914 (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1968); Norma Martyn, The Look: Australian Women in

Their Fashion (Sydney: Cassell Australia, 1976); Scandetti, Breeches and Bustles; Marion

Fletcher, Costume in Australia 1788-1901 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1984).

44 Elina Mackay, The Great Aussie Fashion (McMahon’s Point, Sydney: Kevin Weldon &

Associates, 1984); Australian Fashion Design (McMahon’s Point, Sydney: Kevin Weldon &

Associates, 1985); Fashion Australia (Rushcutters Bay, Sydney: Elina Mackay Publishing,

1987); Alexandra Joel, Best Dressed: 200 years of Australian Fashion (Sydney: Collins,

1984); Parade: The Story of Australian Fashion (Sydney: HarpersCollins, 1998); Margaret

Maynard, Fashioned From Penury; Robyn Healy, From Couture to Chaos: Fashion From

the 1960s to Now From the Collection of the National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne:

National Gallery of Victoria, 1996).

26

45 Jennifer Craik, “Australian Fashion and Dress: Unpicking the Study of ‘Manly

Bushwackers’ and ‘Sartorial Sandinistas’”, unpublished paper, 2007; Patty Huntington,

“Sartorial Sandinistas,” The Bulletin, September 30 (1997).

46 S. Dicks, “Jumbana D,” in A Talent for Tourism: Stories About Indigenous People in

Tourism (Canberra: Commonwealth Department of Tourism, 1994), 16-18; Maynard, Out of

Line, 149-153; Amanda Hayman, “A Brief Redress of Indigenous Fashion in Australia,” The

Fashion Archives, Issue 3 (2013), http://thefashionarchives.org/?fashion_smarts=a-brief-

redress-of-indigenous-fashion-in-australia.

47 Maynard, Out of Line; Jenny Kee, A Big Life (Camberwell, Victoria: Lantern, 2006);

Jennifer Craik and Prudence Black, eds, “Australian Fashion Perspectives”, Fashion Theory,

13, no. 4 (2009); Mitchell Oakley Smith, Fashion: Australian and New Zealand Designers

(Fishermans Bend, Victoria: Thames & Hudson Australia, 2010); Bonnie English and Liliana

Pomazan, eds, Australian Fashion Unstitched. The Last 60 Years (Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 2010); Nadia Buick and Madeline King, Remotely Fashionable: A Story of

Subtropical Style (Brisbane: The Fashion Archives, 2015); and Di Trocchio et al., 200 Years.

48 Alison Lurie, The Language of Clothes (London: Heinemann, 1981), 105.

49 Jennifer Craik, “Sandinistas”; “Is Australian Fashion and Dress Distinctively Australian?,”

Fashion Theory 13, no. 4 (2009): 409-442); Craik and Black, “Australian Fashion

Perspectives,”; Margaret Maynard, “What is ‘Australian’ Fashion Photography? – A

Dilemma,” Fashion Theory 13, no. 4 (2009): 443-460.

50 Edwina McCann, “Editor’s Letter,” Vogue (Australia), April (2016): 54.

51 Mario Testino, “A Letter From Mario Testino,” Vogue Australia, April (2016): 58, 62.

52 Luke Leitch, “Wizards of Odd,” Vogue Australia, April (2016): 83-86.

53 Paola Di Trocchio, “Introduction: 200 Years of Australian Fashion,” Gallery March-April

(Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 2016b): 30-31; “Introduction,” in Di Trocchio, 200

27

Years, 1-9; Janice Breen Burns, “From Dior to Dinnigan,” Gallery March-April (Melbourne:

National Gallery of Victoria, 2016): 32-33; Maynard, “Miss Scott”.

54 Mel Campbell, “From Colonial Gowns to Collette Dinnigan: How Australian Fashion

Shook Off its Cultural Cringe,” The Guardian March 15 (2016),

http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2016/mar/15/200-years-of-australian-fashion-review-

an-arc-towards-satorial-nationalism; Hannah Clifton, “200 Years of Sequins, Glamour and

Funky Style,” Mojo, March 18 (2016), http://mojonews.com.au/mojo-reviews-200-years-of-

australian-fashion/; Veronica Jenkinson, “Talking Shop with the Exhibition Curator of ‘200

Years of Australian Fashion’,” Fashion Journal, March 4 (2016),

http://fashionjournal.com.au/fashion/features/talking-shop-exhibition-curator-200-years-

australian-fashion; Liz Juniper, “200 Years of Australian Fashion,” ArtsHub, March 15

(2016), http://visual.artshub.com.au/news-article/reviews/museums/liz-juniper/200-years-of-

australian-fashion-250785; Carolyn McDowell, “200 Years of Australian Fashion – Jo’s Trip

Down Memory Lane,” The Culture Concept Circle, March 16 (2016a),

http://www.thecultureconcept.com/circle/200-years-of-australian-fashion-jos-trip-down-

memory-lane; “200 Years of Australian Fashion, Colonialism to Modernity,” The Culture

Concept Circle, March 9 (2016b), http://www.thecultureconcept.com/circle/200-years-of-

australian-fashion-colonialism-to-modernity; Penny Webb, “‘200 Years of Australian

Fashion: National Gallery of Victoria Survey Reflects Women’s Sartorial Ambitions,” The

Sydney Morning Herald, March 24 (2016), http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-

design/200-years-of-australian-fashion-national-gallery-of-victoria-survey-reflects-womens-

sartorial-ambitions-20160324-gnq21c.html.

55 Maynard, “Status”; Nadia Buick, “Glamour: 1920s-1960s,” in Di Trocchio, 200 Years, 44-

56.

56 Paola Di Trocchio, “Independence: 1970s-1990s,” in Di Trocchio, 200 Years, 82-94.

28

57 Penny Webb, “Dark Wonderland Review: Toni Maticevski’s Beautiful and Bizarre

Designs a Revelation,” The Sydney Morning Herald, August 23, 2016,

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/toni-maticevski-unveils-his-dark-

wonderland-of-fashion-at-bendigo-art-gallery-20160812-gqrh0s.html; Glynnis Traill-Nash,

“The Buzz Around Fashion Designer Toni Maticevski Keeps Growing. Why?,” The

Australian Magazine, August 27, 2016, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/weekend-

australian-magazine/a-cut-above/news-story/1542ae69e1804729d735b881c0b573df; Bendigo

Art Gallery, “Toni Maticevski: Dark Wonderland,” Arts Review, August 23, 2016,

http://artsreview.com.au/toni-maticevski-dark-wonderland/.

58 Glynnis Traill-Nash, “At 66, Fashion Designer Jenny Kee’s Time Has Come Again,” The

Australian, June 15, 2013, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/weekend-australian-

magazine/at-66-fashion-designer-jenny-kees-time-has-come-again/story-e6frg8h6-

1226663795988; Larissa Romensky and Fiona Parker, “Australian Fashion Icons Linda

Jackson and Jenny Kee Exhibit in Bendigo,” ABC News Central Victoria, September 9, 2016,

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-09/australian-fashion-icons-exhibit-in-

bendigo/7831348; Natalie Croxon, “Exhibition of Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson Designs

Opens in Bendigo,” Bendigo Advertiser, August 11, 2016,

http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/4090104/trailblazers-on-show-photos/; Amy

Ripley, “Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson, as Contemporary as Ever,” D*Hub, 2016,

http://www.dhub.org/jenny-kee-and-linda-jackson-contemporary-as-ever/.

59 Harper, “Sussan”.

60 Lise Skov, “Dreams of Small Nations in a Polycentric Fashion World,” Fashion Theory 15,

no. 2 (2011): 137-156; Sarah Harris, “The Rise and Rise of Australian Fashion,” The Weekly

Review, February 29 (2016), http://www.theweeklyreview.com.au/meet/the-rise-and-rise-of-

australian-fashion/.

29

APPENDIX

EXHIBITIONS ABOUT AUSTRALIAN FASHION

1978: Breeches and Bustles: Fashion in South Australia, 1881-1981 – Art Gallery of South

Australia, Adelaide.

1985-1986: Necks to Nothing: The Colonial History of Bathing - Manly Art Gallery, Sydney

1986: Dressed to Kill, 1935-1950: The Impact of WW2 on Queensland Women’s Dress -

Queensland University Art Museum, Brisbane

1988: Paula Stafford and the Bikini – Centre Gallery, Gold Coast

1989-1990: Australian Fashion: The Contemporary Art - Powerhouse/Museum of Art and

Applied Sciences, Sydney

1993: Dressed to Kill: 100 Years of Fashion – Australian National Gallery, Canberra

1996: Shmith, Athol. Fashion Photography from the 1940s to the 1970s – National Gallery of

Victoria, Melbourne

1996: Couture to Chaos: Fashion from the 1960s to Now - National Gallery of Victoria,

Melbourne

1996: Prue Acton. Racing Ahead. Melbourne Cup Outfits 1979-1991 – RMIT Exhibition,

Melbourne

1999: Tokyo Vogue – Griffith University/Brisbane City Gallery, Brisbane

2003: Architects of Glamour + Masters of Style – Queensland University of Technology,

Brisbane

2004: Akira Isogawa: Printemps-Été - National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2005: Martin Grant, Paris - National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2006: The Paris End: Photography, Fashion and Glamour: Excerpts from a Century of

Fashion - National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2007: Katie Pye: Clothes for Modern Lovers, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Manuscript (in Word format)

2007: Fashion from Fleece. 200 Years of Australian Wool in Fashion – Powerhouse/

Museum of Art and Applied Sciences, Sydney

2009: Easton Pearson – Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane

2009: In Fashion: Dressing Up Brisbane – Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane

2009: Katie Pye – Artisan Gallery, Brisbane

2009: Together Alone: Australian and New Zealand Fashion, National Gallery of Victoria,

Melbourne

2009: Together Alone – Material Byproduct – National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2010-2011: Australian Made: 100 Years of Fashion, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2011: ManStyle: Men + Fashion - National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2012: Faith, Fashion, Fusion: Muslim Women’s Style in Australia – Powerhouse/ Museum of

Art and Applied Sciences, Sydney

2012: Ballet and Fashion – National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2012: Linda Jackson Bush Couture - National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2012: Flash Women - State Library of Queensland, Brisbane

2012: A Sense of Occasion: 50 Years of Party Dresses - Rockhampton Art Gallery,

Rockhampton

2012: Flashback: 160 Years of Australian Fashion Photography - State Library of New

South Wales, Sydney

2012-2013: Gwen Gillam: Dressed by the Best - Queensland Museum, Brisbane

2013: Toni Matecevski - National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2015-2016: Collette Dinnigan Unlaced – Powerhouse/ Museum of Art and Applied Sciences,

Sydney

2015: Express Yourself: Romance was Born for Kids - National Gallery of Victoria,

Melbourne

2016: 200 Years of Australian Fashion - National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2016: Henry Talbot: 1960s Fashion Photographer – National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2016: Toni Maticevski: Dark Wonderland – Bendigo Art Gallery

2016: Flamingo Park and Beyond – Bendigo Post Office Gallery