I didn’t consciously set out to design a lingerie collection – it was just something I gravitated towards, because I loved beautiful fabrics. I had collected vintage lace, silks and trims from the 1930s, so I started making silk chiffon knickers and crepe de Chine chemises as gifts for friends – a bit like trousseau pieces. I had a friend, Nikki Andrews at Mode magazine, who asked me to bring some pieces in, and before long I was taking orders from editors and other staff, then going back to my studio and making them up. I did all the sewing myself. When I first started, I was making about one piece a week. It soon grew to about five pieces, then twenty-five pieces a week, as word spread.
My first real break came when Susan Owens of The Sydney Morning Herald wrote a piece on my lingerie. At the end of the article she said: ‘If anyone is interested, please send a self-addressed envelope to receive a catalogue.’ How times have changed – it’s all about the database now. I received literally thousands of letters from people wanting me to custom-make lingerie pieces for them. I started trying to sell my lingerie to retailers, but there just wasn’t a market for it in Australia at that time. I was trying to create luxury pieces that would last a lifetime – it was all about the cut, and mixing silk with beautiful, antique laces. I sometimes meet people today who tell me they have kept those early pieces as heirlooms as they are so beautiful.