1947 - present

Jenny Kee is a highly esteemed and much loved Australian artist and fashion designer who first made herself known in 1973 via her vital contribution to the ‘Australiana’ fashion trend. She and her brother were born in Bondi and attended Bondi Beach Public School in the early 50’s at which they were the only students from a combined Chinese, Italian and Anglo-Saxon background and had to overcome racism and work hard to fit in. Jenny and her family have a great affinity with Bondi, and she fondly recalls having her father tell her he sat on Bondi Beach to celebrate his 21st birthday.

When Jenny arrived in ‘Swinging’ London in 1965, it was the excitement epicentre at which major political, sexual and cultural changes were unfolding. She thrived working at the trendy fashion store Biba as well as the Chelsea Antique Market, and at both venues, the customers included rock musicians, models and bohemians from the ‘underground’ scene. She used vintage and ethnic fashion styles to develop original ways of expressing herself creatively.

She returned to Sydney in 1972 and established Flamingo Park Frock Salon in Sydney’s beautiful Strand Arcade in 1973. She teamed up with fellow mastermind Linda Jackson and their mission was to create a national style, to inject colour and flair into Australian fashion and put it on the map. They blazed a trail of electrifying creativity for 9 years together.

Flamingo Park was a magnet for local and international fashionistas, who loved the wild, eclectic and outrageous ‘Australiana’ creations that since then have become highly collectable. The garments typically featured bright motifs of Antipodean plants and animals and other visual celebrations of Australianness.

Browsers and buyers were confronted with Jenny’s oversized knits that bore a koala or kookaburra as their centrepiece, as well as her fabulous original prints in cottons and silks, her glorious art scarves and then there were Linda’s gorgeous bespoke range of daywear, evening wear pieces in silk and taffeta gowns. The focus of the label was on handmade, one-of-a-kind clothing, and the ‘Flamingo Follies’ parades became legendary events in the Sydney fashion calendar. The second show, in 1975, was held at the Bondi Pavilion, so for Jenny, it was a kind of homecoming.

Since Flamingo Park’s closure in 1995, Jenny has continued to be inspired by the Australian bush and to make major contributions to Australian fashion and design. About her unique and famous opal prints, for example, she commented, “I'm obsessed with the precious living colour held in our ancient gemstone; it evokes the brilliant rainbow colours of Australia.” In 1983, Karl Lagerfeld – the famous creative director, fashion designer, artist, photographer and caricaturist – chose the opal prints for 65 of the garments he designed for his very first Chanel prêt-à-porter collection.

For the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games opening ceremony, Jenny delivered a lavish display of costumes to encapsulate Africa and the Americas. Her designs have been featured in international publications and exhibited at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Powerhouse Museum (the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences), in Sydney; Parliament House and the National Gallery of Australia, in Canberra; the Victoria and Albert Museum, in London; and the Morimura Museum, in Tokyo.

In 2013, Jenny and Linda jointly received a Prix de Marie Claire Beauty Award for Special Achievement, for their contribution to Australian fashion. In June that year, the New South Wales Government and IMG Fashion awarded Jenny the Australian Fashion Laureate, “in recognition of outstanding creative or intellectual achievement in the Australian fashion industry”.

Courtesy Jenny Kee, Bridgette Grant and Byron Spencer Photography