This article first appeared in Onya Magazine, July 2010

While Australia is only a small player on the world catwalk, Australian fashion has been more than making its mark over the past 60 years. In a new publication by Bonnie English and Liliana Pomanzan, both fashion veterans themselves, the world of Australian Fashion is explored. From our original glamour and style to our unique photography and art, English, Pomanzan and their team of experts take us on a journey through the vault that holds our fashion story.

Featuring beautiful photographs from the past 60 years, the book uses hundreds of sources including fashion industry heavyweights from days gone by, academics, designers and journalists.

Beginning post World War Two, when the first Parisian fashion shows were bought to our shores, the chapters of the book cover off social and historical perspectives of Australian fashion and move through the decades, highlighting key milestones in our fashion voyage.

A personal highlight for me is the inclusion of history detailing Melbourne’s Collins Street and neighbouring Flinders Lane as the most important centre of fashion in Australia during the 1950s. As fabulous as it is to read about 5th Avenue in New York or Rue Cambon in Paris being the centre of the fashion world in most industry books, it is refreshing to find a book that includes local information.

As much as the book comes across more as a textbook than a coffee table book, it will appeal to a broad audience including students, fashionistas and those with a general interest in the history of our country.

BUY: Australian Fashion Unstitched (English & Pomazan) Cambridge University Press 2010 $49.95

VISIT: ‘Shop ’til you drop’ at the State Library of Victoria

VIST: ‘100 years of Australian Fashion’ at the Ian Potter Centre, NGV Federation Square, Victoria