I love fashion
For as long as I can remember and in fact before that, my mother made our clothes. She knitted and sewed and threaded her way through our lives. I vividly recall with graphic detail key garments my mother created, dresses and jerseys, my brothers shorts and shirts. She continued with passion attending sewing classes uninterrupted until the day before she died. I can see her clearly down the years pinning pattern on folded fabric and cutting cloth with precision from the latest creation from the German Burda magazine. No translator required. The original ‘material girl!’ It came as no surprise to discover myself hooked into the fashion industry from the moment I had my own children though not behind the machine, in front of it.
Becoming a mother rekindled my fondness for this. I wanted to clothe my kids in garments I had put together. They were accommodating and good-natured. The rest as they say, is history.
Starting with a ‘Party Plan’ concept in homes of family and friends and my first studio with freelance pattern makers and seamstresses. I shopped for cloth and trims and put the ranges together, always my favourite part.
Moving on I sold my Collections to Departmental and Chain Stores and had both Collections (Ondine & Exit) in YDE for 15 years. This is when I started to embellish the garments with embroidery, appliqué , printing, tailoring, beading and hand painted buttons and buckles.