MFF IDEAS PROGRAM 2021 | Australian modernist dress of the ‘60s and ‘70s with Nicole Jenkins

Australian wardrobes took an exciting turn when Prue Acton set up in Flinders lane making clothes for teenagers like herself: cute and fun new fashions that simply weren’t available in the serious, grown up glamour of the 1950s.

Riding a revolutionary wave that started with Mary Quant in London, Prue opened up new markets and invigorated our staid, conservative world with increasingly high hemlines and bright colours in the latest synthetic fabrics. Out went all the accessories: hats, gloves, stockings so loved by their mothers. A new freedom was on display, and available for a reasonable price in your high street.

Soon followed by other trailblazers, including Norma Tullo and the House of Merivale, Australian women wore locally made clothing that reflected our Antipodean lives in a complexity that was lacking in international designs. 

Join Nicole Jenkins, fashion historian, collector and author of books Love Vintage and Style is Eternal as she revisits this creative and innovative period in Australian fashion

NICOLE JENKINS is the award‐winning author of books ‘Love Vintage’ and ‘Style is Eternal’ and a collector of Australian fashion. A costume designer by trade and fashion historian by nature, she’s currently completing her Master’s degree in Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies at Deakin University. Jenkins has presented lectures at The Johnston Collection on ‘COLLECTING FASHIONABLE DRESS: private collections in Australia’ (2019) and FROM VICTORIA TO MEGHAN: The hidden stories behind British royal wedding gowns (2020).

Image: Tira Lewis from 'Love Vintage'. Image supplied