Linda Jackson (designer) facts for kids
Linda Jackson (born on September 15, 1950) is a famous Australian fashion designer. She also sells clothes and creates art. She has received an important award called the Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for her amazing work.
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Linda Jackson's Early Life and Travels
Linda Jackson was born in Beaumaris, a suburb near the bay in Melbourne, Australia. Her parents were ballroom dancers. They always encouraged her to be creative. Linda studied fashion and design at Emily McPherson College in Melbourne. She also learned photography there.
In 1966, Linda left Australia to travel the world. She explored countries in Asia and Europe. She called these trips her "university of life." She visited places like Papua New Guinea, other parts of Asia, Europe, and England.
Learning Fashion in Europe
Linda came back to Sydney in 1972. Before that, she worked as a dressmaker in London. While traveling, she visited many fashion workshops. She learned about the detailed ways Parisian designers made clothes. She studied special techniques like cutting fabric on the bias and draping. She also learned about hand-rolled silk hems.
Linda admired designers like Madeleine Vionnet and Paul Poiret. She loved using high-quality fabrics. Some of her favorite materials were taffeta, crepe de chine, chiffon, and silk georgette.
Starting Flamingo Park Frock Salon
In 1973, Linda met another designer named Jenny Kee. They met at an art exhibition in Sydney. Soon after, they decided to start a business together. They opened a fashion shop called Flamingo Park Frock Salon. This special boutique was located in The Strand Arcade in Sydney.
Linda and Jenny worked together until 1982. After that, Linda started her own fashion lines. These were called Bush Couture and Bush Kids.
Working with Other Artists
During this time, Linda also worked with other artists. These included Bruce Gould, Deborah Leser, David McDiarmid, and Peter Tully. These artists helped Linda by hand-painting fabrics for her dresses. They also created jewelry that matched her unique outfits.
In 1989, Linda Jackson was in the spotlight again. She designed a range of accessories for a company called Oroton. These designs featured Australian plants and animals. She used images of the desert pea, waratah, gum leaves, scribbly gum, and bush birds. These were all things she loved to use in her designs for Flamingo Park.
June McCallum, who was the editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, wrote about Linda's clothes. She said Linda's designs were "wonderfully witty, beautiful pieces." She also called them "imaginative, inventive and exciting to wear."
Life in Arnhem Land
In the 1990s, Linda Jackson moved to Arnhem Land. This is a region in northern Australia. She lived and worked with Aboriginal communities there. She also spent time in Queensland. She worked with artists from Mossman Gorge. Together, they created beautiful hand-painted silk scarves. Linda also showed her own paintings and photographs in art exhibitions.
Exhibitions and Recognition
In 2019, the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney held a big exhibition. It showed the work of both Linda Jackson and Jenny Kee. The exhibition included pieces from the museum's collection. It also featured items from Linda and Jenny's personal collections.
Linda Jackson spoke about their creative partnership. She said, "We have tried to capture the pride we felt for Australia when we returned in the 1970s." She added that Australia's unique environment inspired them. Linda also mentioned that she and Jenny always shared a love for color, plants, animals, and the Australian bush. They wanted to bring this love to life in their designs.
Major Exhibitions
- 1989: Australian Fashion: the Contemporary Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. This exhibition also traveled to Korea and Japan.
- 2012: Bush Couture at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.
- 2019: Step Into Paradise at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. This was a joint exhibition with Jenny Kee.
Awards and Honors
- 1977: She won the Fashion Industry of Australia Lyre Bird Awards. This was in the Innovators category, and she shared the award with Jenny Kee.
- 2018: Linda was honored as an Officer of the Order of Australia. This award recognized her great contributions to the Australian fashion industry.
What Inspired Linda Jackson
In the late 1960s and 1970s, Linda Jackson was inspired by several people. These included designer Peter Tully, artist and activist David McDiarmid, and fashion designer Clarence Chai.
Later, her experiences in the Australian outback greatly influenced her. She was also inspired by the art of Indigenous Australian artists. Traditional textiles from Papua New Guinea and traditional beading from Kenya also played a role in her designs.
