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With the launch of Powerhouse Zampatti – the spectacular tribute to Carla Zampatti’s life and legacy at Sydney’s Powerhouse Ultimo – you wonder how Australia’s late fashion matriarch might have felt about such an honour. Could she possibly have been surprised to be deserving of a curated chronology dedicated to her five-decade career? After all, this was a woman who weathered the storms of recessions and business misogyny, who forged an inimitable, iconic aesthetic (particularly poignant during the rise of women in the workplace) and a woman who went on to become one of Australia’s most respected and notable fashion names.
The exhibition, that opened last week, begins with her earliest archives – the years of a more indulgent, flamboyant design – before displaying the chic, streamlined, elegant pieces we associate with her now, some even worn by high profile Australians like Julia Gillard, Tina Arena and HRH Princess Mary of Denmark during their own prestigious career moments. However, perhaps most intriguing is the capsule of items loaned by members of the Australian public. An oeuvre of photographs, garments and memorabilia, some of which Zampatti’s own children hadn’t seen in years.
“In the early 1970s, she was a single mother and we lived alone in a unit. I have a fond childhood memory of her in a particular dress from that time. I haven’t seen it since then, but when a member of the public lent it to the exhibition, I immediately recognised it from that time. It evoked very fond memories of that time in my childhood”, son (and Carla Zampatti CEO) Alex Schuman told GRAZIA.
The exhibition, therefore, is not only a tribute to Zampatti’s legacy but to the well-dressed Australian woman – something she adored, according to former Harper’s Bazaar editor and now Powerhouse Trustee, Kellie Hush. “Carla wanted to design clothes for real women and their lives, so I think that’s what the exhibition shows. The garments from the Sixties and Seventies are probably more elaborate than we know of the Carla today, but that’s what women were wearing. Then you see the evolution of when women started to work more, in her suiting, but she always kept that idea that women love to be glamorous. There’s “every woman” in this exhibition, and that’s what she was really amazing at doing. I walk through the exhibition and think, she just really understood Australian women.”
As a close friend of the designer, Hush knew both Carla Zampatti the business woman and Carla Zampatti, the mentor. “She was very warm and generous and caring, but she had a really tough side. The era that she built her business in, it was a man’s world, so she had a tough exterior even though she was a big softy. As a business woman she was tough and astute. She had a massive fashion business she had to keep alive through a couple of recessions, so she was a really good decision maker.” Hush told GRAZIA.
Powerhouse Ultimo is the perfect setting for this retrospective. As a space dedicated to innovation, the arts and the fascinations of design future and past, it is symbiotic with the ethos Zampatti upheld. She was endlessly inspired by women, by beautiful, wearable style and her craftsmanship held impeccably high standards. Her power suits, her fitted jackets and her languid gowns are as fashionable now as they were when she first began her business in 1965 – a credit to her knack for seasonless, chic silhouettes and her instinct for what women want. So, while the designer, who passed away aged 78 in April last year, would probably have been flattered by the homage, she would most likely have returned the dedication to all those who shaped her career. Instead seeing it as a way to honour the women who have worn her pieces since the beginning – the same women who will surely revel in this splendid, immersive experience.
Zampatti Powerhouse
Powerhouse Ultimo
24 November 2022 – 11 June 2023
Free, no registration required
www.maas.museum/event/carla-zampatti/
