Page 187 - Demo

185Like many Australians, fashion designer Jenny Kee headed o%u00a0 to London in the 1960s, where she cut her teeth selling vintage clothes at the Chelsea Antiques Market. When she returned to Sydney in 1973, she set up her hugely influential %u2018frock salon%u2019 Flamingo Park in the Strand Arcade%u00a0 with fellow designer Linda Jackson. Taking inspiration from the new location,%u00a0 she began using colours from the landscape and creating unapologetically Australian designs featuring motifs of our flora and fauna %u2013 waratahs, gumnuts and, yes, the koala.In 1981, a koala jumper inspired by the classic Australian story%u00a0 Blinky Bill%u00a0 was given to newlyweds Prince Charles and Lady Diana by Kim Wran, daughter of New South Wales premier Neville Wran. It was one of more than 6000 gifts sent to the happy couple from around the world, but this particular jumper caught the eye of the new princess, and she was photographed wearing it at a polo match in 1982.The image of a pregnant Diana in this bright, oversized knit with a koala on the front made headlines around the world, and orders for the%u00a0 jumper quickly rolled in. The demand was so %u00a0 great that The Australian Women%u2019s Weeklycommissioned Kee to create a pattern so people could knit their own version at home %u2013 it was dubbed the %u2018Blinky-Di%u2019.In 1983, Diana specifically requested that Kee be invited to an o%u00a0icial event at the GovernorGeneral%u2019s residence during their Royal Tour, and the two got on famously. This further propelled Kee%u2019s fame, and she soon became a regular on Australian TV as the face of Softly wool wash.The fact that Princess Diana %u2013 arguably the most famous woman in the world at the time %u2013 was wearing an Australian-designed and -made jumper with a koala on the front and a map of Australia on the back sparked a huge sense of%u00a0national pride. It also kickstarted a craze for Australiana-themed knitwear that dominated the 1980s. I mean, if you didn%u2019t have a perm, wear high-waisted jeans and jump out of a Magna wearing a jumper with a wombat on it, were you even really there?YEAR 1981DESIGNER Jenny KeeThe Australian Women%u2019s Weekly commissioned Kee to create a pattern so people could knit their own version at home %u2013 it was dubbed the %u2018Blinky-Di%u2019.