Carla Maria Zampatti , (19 May 1942 – 3 April 2021) was an Italian-born Australian
fashion design
Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and place. "A fashion designer creates ...
er and businesswoman, and executive chair of the fashion label Carla Zampatti Limited.
Background
Born in
Lovero
Lovero is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about east of Sondrio. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 663 and an area of .All demographics and ...
,
Italy in 1942,
Zampatti settled with her family in
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
in 1950.
The family moved to Bullfinch WA and she attended school there for several years.
Career
In 1965, Zampatti produced her first small collection for Zampatti Pty Limited, followed two years later by a national launch, and in 1970, by the establishment of Carla Zampatti Limited.
Her clothes were appreciated and liked from the beginning. One of her early dresses, bought in 1967, was still in use for special occasions by its original purchaser in 2021 — a fact that contributed to ongoing debate about the quality and
sustainability of fashion. It was worn again at the designer's funeral.
Zampatti opened her first boutique in 1972 in ,
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountains ...
.
Over the next three years, boutiques were opened in ,
Double Bay
Double Bay is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Municipality of ...
and
Elizabeth Street, Sydney
Elizabeth Street is a major street in the central business district of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The street continues south of the central business district (CBD), through the inner city suburbs of Surry Hills, Redfern and Waterlo ...
, growing the Carla Zampatti Pty Ltd company to create a chain of 30 Carla Zampatti boutiques and concept stores across Australia.
With the growth of the label, Zampatti moved into David Jones in 1990 and Myer stores in 1992, although she signed an exclusivity deal with David Jones in 2009.
Australian singer of Italian descent,
Tina Arena
Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena (born 1 November 1967) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer. She is one of Australia's highest-selling artists and has sold over 10 million records worldwid ...
, is known to wear her pieces, as are other Australian icons
Princess Mary of Denmark,
Dannii Minogue
Danielle Jane Minogue () is an Australian singer, television personality, and actress. She initially gained recognition for her appearances on the television show '' Young Talent Time'' (1982–1988) and for her role as Emma Jackson on t ...
,
Delta Goodrem, and
Ita Buttrose
Ita Clare Buttrose (born 17 January 1942) is an Australian TV network chairperson, television and radio personality, author and former magazine editor, publishing executive and newspaper journalist.
She was the founding editor of '' Cleo'', a ...
.
In 1973, Zampatti became one of the first Australian designers to introduce swimwear into her collection. Expanding into other areas of fashion, she was commissioned to create the first designer eyewear of Polaroid's range.
In 1983, Zampatti launched her first perfume, 'Carla'. It was a success, and she released a second in 1987, 'Bellezza'.
In partnership with
Ford Australia
Ford Motor Company of Australia Limited (known by its trading name Ford Australia) is the Australian subsidiary of United States-based automaker Ford Motor Company. It was founded in Geelong, Victoria, in 1925 as an outpost of Ford Motor C ...
, Zampatti redesigned a car especially for the women's market. Her first
Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The firs ...
, produced in 1985, was followed two years later with a collection of Lasers and
Meteors
A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space.
Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as mic ...
.
Zampatti's daughter,
Bianca Spender, spent her childhood in her mother's studio which lead to her interest in studying fashion in Paris.
Bianca joined Carla Zampatti Limited with her own capsule collection from 2004. Bianca branched out and launched her own namesake brand in 2017.
Zampatti held a number of directorships, including chairman of the SBS Corporation,
a director of the Westfield Group,
and a trustee of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
She was a board member of the Australian Multicultural Foundation, the
European Australian Business Council, Sydney Dance Company, MCA Foundation, and UTS V-C's Industry Advisory Board.
From 1988 until her death in 2021, Zampatti served as a judge of the Ethnic Business Awards, a prestigious national award for migrant and Indigenous entrepreneurs which honours their contribution to the nation.
In 2015,
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...
published Zampatti's autobiography, ''My Life, My Look''.
Honours
Zampatti was appointed a
Member of the Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gov ...
(AM) in the 1987
Australia Day
Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Jac ...
honours for service to the fashion industry as a designer and manufacturer.
She was elevated as a Companion of the Order in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours List.
In 2001 Zampatti was awarded the
Centenary Medal
The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or gov ...
for service to Australian society in business leadership.
Zampatti was a Bulletin/Qantas Businesswoman of the Year,
and in 1994 the fashion industry of Australia named her Designer of the Year.
In January 2005, Zampatti was honoured by
Australia Post
Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation, is the government business enterprise that provides postal services in Australia. The head office of Australia Post is located in Bourke Street, Melbourne, which also serves as a post ...
and named on an
commemorative Australian postage stamp, along with other Australian fashion designers,
Prue Acton
Prue Acton, OBE (born 26 April 1943) is an Australian fashion designer, often referred to as "Australia's golden girl of fashion" during the 1960s.
Early life
Prudence Leigh Acton was born in Benalla, Victoria and educated at Firbank Anglican G ...
,
Jenny Bannister
Jenny Bannister is an Australian fashion designer, based in Melbourne.
Early life
Bannister was born in 1954 in Mildura, Victoria to parents Owen and Peg. As a teenager she moved to Melbourne with her sister Wendy. Bannister studied Fashion Desi ...
,
Collette Dinnigan
Collette Mary Ann Dinnigan (born 24 September 1965) is an Australian based fashion designer. Born in South Africa, Dinnigan moved to New Zealand, then Australia, where she obtained work with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. She opened ...
,
Akira Isogawa, and
Joe Saba. The award is announced annually in the lead-up to Australia Day, and its recipients are individually featured on a postage stamp.
Zampatti later designed the new Australia Post corporate wear, launched in October 2007.
In 2004, the
Government of Italy
The government of Italy is in the form of a democratic republic, and was established by a constitution in 1948. It consists of legislative, executive, and judicial subdivisions, as well as a Head of State, or President.
The Italian Constitutio ...
appointed her a
Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.
The Australian Fashion Laureate Award was given to Zampatti in August 2008. The award is polled by members of the industry, an initiative of the New South Wales Government and IMG Fashion. It recognises outstanding achievement and is the highest honour in the Australian fashion industry.
In 1999, Zampatti was admitted as a
Doctor of Letters ''honoris causa'' by the
University of Western Sydney
Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network u ...
.
In December 2018, the
University of Wollongong
The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment of ...
also awarded her an honorary doctorate.
Personal life
Zampatti was married twice: she married Leo Schuman, her first husband, in 1964. They divorced in 1970. Her second husband was politician
John Spender
John Michael Spender (2 December 1935 – 13 October 2022) was an Australian politician, diplomat and barrister. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1980 to 1990, representing the Liberal Party, and was a shadow minister under ...
from 1975 until they separated in 2008, and divorced in 2010.
She had three children: Alex Schuman (CEO of Carla Zampatti Pty Ltd),
Allegra Spender
Allegra Spender is an Australian politician and businesswoman who is the member of parliament for Wentworth since 2022. She is the third generation of her family to sit in federal parliament, after her grandfather Percy and father John. One o ...
(Member of the
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia.
The term of members of the ...
for
Wentworth and CEO of Carla Zampatti Pty Ltd from 2008 to 2016), and
Bianca Spender (designer).
Death
On 26 March 2021, Zampatti attended the opening night of ''
La traviata
''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on ''La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his own 18 ...
'' at
Mrs Macquarie's Point on
Sydney Harbour
Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea ( ...
, where she was knocked unconscious after falling on a staircase. She was taken to
St Vincent's Hospital where she died from her injuries on 3 April, at the age of 78. Zampatti's family accepted the offer of a
state funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...
from the New South Wales government. The service was held at
St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney
The Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Mother of God, Help of Christians (colloquially, St Mary's Cathedral) is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and the seat of the Archbishop of Sydney, curren ...
on 15 April 2021, where many attendees wore her designs, and her daughter said “If she was alive, she’d say this is the best-dressed funeral she had ever attended.”
References
External links
Carla Zampatti website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zampatti, Carla
1942 births
2021 deaths
Accidental deaths from falls
Accidental deaths in New South Wales
Australian autobiographers
Australian fashion designers
Australian women company founders
Australian company founders
Companions of the Order of Australia
Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
Recipients of the Centenary Medal
Italian emigrants to Australia
People from the Province of Sondrio
Spouses of Australian politicians
Board members of the Special Broadcasting Service
Australian women fashion designers
Italian fashion designers
Italian women fashion designers