'Mondrian' outfit by Linda Jackson and Peter Tully
Object No. 99/6/12
Jenny Kee collection of clothing, textiles, artwork and archive, Australia / England / Japan / Africa / USA 1967-1995 Jenny Kee (born Sydney 1947) is one of Australia's most important designers, best known for designing and retailing a unique range of colourful clothing and knitwear. One major theme links all aspects of this collection, Jenny Kee's love of Australia's unique natural environment. Her garments are a canvas for her artwork featuring images of native flora and fauna, the opal gem stone and urban icons like the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House. The Jenny Kee collection and archive was acquired by the museum in 1998 and 1999. They document the evolution of her clothing and textile designs, the creative process behind her designs, the development and management of her retail outlets Flamingo Park and Jenny Kee, the significant role she played in environmental activism in Australia and her public profile as a celebrity artist with-in the advertising industry. The collection and archive document her life and work over twenty years and includes clothing and textiles by Jenny Kee as well as Kee's business partner Linda Jackson (b. 1950), original artwork for many of Kee's designs, business records, newspaper and magazine clippings, videos of parades, parade invitations, props and programmes, shop mannequins, shop signs, scrapbooks and posters. The collection and archive not only records Jenny Kee's life and work, but also can be read as a document that charts important cultural changes in Australia. Kee was born in Bondi, to a Cantonese businessman father and Italian/British mother. An early newspaper clipping shows her modelling as the face of Canadian Airlines. In the 1960s, she, like many other young Australians, spent several years enjoying the creative atmosphere of 'Swinging London'. She returned to Australia in the early 1970s and attracted by the encouraging cultural climate of the new Whitlam led Labor government, decided to stay. Kee then opened her Flamingo Park' 'frock salon' in the Strand Arcade in Sydney selling her own designs as well as the work of other innovative designers like Linda Jackson, Peter Tully (1947-1992) and David McDiarmid (1952-1995). Many of the pieces sold through the shop are included in the collection as well as signage, programmes and videos of the lively parades she and Linda Jackson produced. The collection preserves a unique record of this important designer's personal and professional career from the 1960s through to 1995.
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Summary
Object Statement
Outfit, 'Mondrian', womens, comprising dress, belt, hat and earrings (pair), cotton / plastic / metal, designed by Linda Jackson / Peter Tully, retailed by Flamingo Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1975
Physical Description
Dress: womens fitted skirtwaist dress which falls to about mid calf length made of white cotton. The tailored bodice has a V-neckline with shawl collar and full short sleeves that have turned up cuffs decorated with small fabric covered buttons, green on one and pink on the other. There is red bias tape trim at centre front, neckline, sleeves and the hem. The bodice has an orange patch pocket at proper left breast and a narrow yellow patch pocket at proper right breast. The full skirt is gathered onto the waist and has two large patch pockets at left and right front at hip level, one is green and the other is royal blue. All the patch pockets are trimmed with red bias tape. The centre front opening fastens with six fabric covered buttons in different colours. The dress is machine sewn and unlined. Belt: wide belt made of white cotton trimmed with red cotton tape and fastens with a large circular buckle covered with red cotton. Hat: square beret-style hat made of white and green cotton with red cotton trim. The hat is machine sewn and partially lined with stiffening fabric. Earrings: pair of painted white plastic earrings. One earring is a square and the other is a rectangle. The square earring is decorated with green and red bands and the rectangular one with a red band. Both have metal screw clasps attached.
PRODUCTION
Notes
The outfit was made in 1975 by Linda Jackson and the earings by Peter Tully in Australia. Jackson studied fashion design at Emily Macpherson College and photography at Prahan Technical College in Melbourne. In the late 1960's and early 70's she travelled through Asia, and lived in New Guinea in 1969. In 1972 Jackson worked in Paris and developed her interest in working with fabrics draped over a form. In 1973 she showed her first range of clothing at the Bonython Gallery in Sydney and met Jenny Kee. Later that year Kee opened the 'Flamingo Park Frock Salon', filled with Jackson's 'Jackson Couture'. For the next ten years, Jackson and Kee worked as prolific and highly successful collaborators, becoming internationally acclaimed for their contribution to a unique Australian style. In 1981 Jackson and Kee staged their last joint show and in 1983 Jackson launched 'Bush Couture'. See De Teliga, J., and Jackson, L., 'Linda Jackson, The Art of Fashion', Fontana, Australia, 1987.
HISTORY
Notes
This outfit was part of the Bondi Pavilion Parade, Sydney in 1975. The dress is pictured in Kee, J., 'A Big Life', Lantern, p.151.
SOURCE
Credit Line
Purchased 1999
Acquisition Date
3 February 1999
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