Linda Jackson (born 15 September 1950) is a pioneer Australian fashion designer, fashion retailer and artist.

Biography

Jackson was born in Melbourne bay side suburb of Beaumaris. Her parents were ballroom dancers and encouraged her creative instincts. She studied fashion and design at the Emily McPherson College (now part of

RMIT RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1887 by Francis Ormond, RMIT began as a night school offering classes in art, scienc ...

), and photography in Melbourne. In 1966 she left to travel in Asia and Europe. She regarded these travels as her "university of life". She travelled through

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

, Asia and onto Europe and England. Jackson returned to Sydney in 1972 after working as a dressmaker in London. She visited workshops and collecting the fashions of Parisian couturiers, studying how to cut on the bias, drape and other intricacies of hand-made clothing such as hand-rolled silk hems. Her favourites were

Vionnet Madeleine Vionnet (; June 22, 1876, Loiret, France – March 2, 1975) was a French fashion designer. Vionnet trained in London before returning to France to establish her first fashion house in Paris in 1912. Although it was forced to close in 1 ...

and

Paul Poiret Paul Poiret (20 April 1879 – 30 April 1944, Paris, France) was a French fashion designer, a master couturier during the first two decades of the 20th century. He was the founder of his namesake haute couture house. Early life and care ...

. Jackson favoured quality fabrics such as tafetta, crepe de chine, chiffon and silk georgette. After meeting designer

Jenny Kee Jenny Margaret Kee, (born 24 January 1947) is an Australian fashion designer. Early life Kee was born on 24 January 1947 in Bondi, New South Wales to a Chinese father and a sixth-generation Australian mother of Italian-English descent. Kee's ...

in 1973 at an exhibition opening at the Bonython Gallery in Sydney, they established a business partnership and opened Flamingo Park Frock Salon, a boutique in

The Strand Arcade The Strand Arcade is a heritage-listed Victorian-style retail arcade located at 195-197 Pitt Street in the heart of the Sydney central business district, between Pitt Street Mall and George Street in the City of Sydney local government area o ...

, Sydney in 1973.Power house museum
/ref> She remained partners with Kee until 1982 when Jackson created the Bush Couture and Bush Kids labels. This period also saw Jackson collaborate with artists Bruce Gould, Deborah Leser,

David McDiarmid David McDiarmid (1952–1995) was an artist, designer and political activist, recognised for his prominent and sustained artistic engagement in issues relating to gay male identity and HIV/AIDS. He is also known for his involvement in the gay libe ...

and

Peter Tully Peter Tully (1947-1992), was a jeweller, designer and artistic director, notable for his influence on jewellery design in Australia through the utilisation of found and non-precious materials, as well as his artistic direction of the Sydney Mardi ...

, who hand-painted fabrics for Jackson's dresses and provided jewellery to complement her outfits. In 1989 Jackson was back in the spotlight, designing an accessory range for

Oroton Oroton is Australia’s oldest luxury fashion company founded in 1938. The company’s main product category is leather bags for women and men. The company sells other products such as eyewear, accessories and small leather goods, and launched it ...

which incorporated the Australian designs she had so favoured while designing for Flamingo Park: the desert pea, waratah, gum leaves, scribbly gum and birds in the bush. In the foreword to her book ''Linda Jackson: The Art of Fashion'', June McCallum, then editor-in-chief of ''Vogue'', summed up Jackson's clothes as 'wonderfully witty, beautiful pieces that are imaginative, inventive and exciting to wear." In the 1990s Jackson relocated to

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...

living and working with

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

communities. She spent time in Queensland with the artists of the

Mossman Gorge Mossman Gorge is a rural locality in the Shire of Douglas, Queensland, Australia. In the , Mossman Gorge had a population of 246 people. The locality takes its name from the valley Mossman Gorge created by the Mossman River through the Daintree ...

, creating hand-painted silk scarves. Jackson also exhibited regularly as a painter and photographer. In 2019, the

Powerhouse Museum The Powerhouse Museum is the major branch of the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS) in Sydney, the others being the historic Sydney Observatory at Observatory Park, Sydney, Observatory Hill, and the newer Museums Discovery Centre at Castle ...

staged an extensive survey of the work of Jackson and former collaborator Jenny Kee. The work included in the exhibition was drawn from the collection of the

, as well as works from the personal collections of both Jackson and Kee. Jackson said of their creative partnership:

"We have tried to capture the pride we felt for Australia when we returned in the 1970s and the way its unique environment has inspired us over the years. Jenny and I have always shared a love for colour, vibrancy, flora, fauna and the bush, and we’ve aimed to bring this to life in our designs."

Selected exhibitions

* 1989: ''Australian Fashion: the Contemporary Art''

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, London, Korea and Japan * 2012: ''Bush Couture'', National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne * 2019: ''Step Into Paradise'', Powerhouse Museum, Sydney; with Jenny Kee

Awards and recognition

* 1977: Fashion Industry of Australia Lyre Bird Awards (Innovators category); joint winner with

* 2018:

Officer 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 Gove ...

for services to the Australian fashion industry

Influences

Jackson was influenced in the late 1960s and 1970s by designer

, artist activist

and fashion designer Clarence Chai. Later she was influenced by her experience of the Australian outback and the work of indigenous Australian artists, traditional textiles of Papua New Guinea and the traditional beading of

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References

External links