 Australian House And Garden - February 2012Andrea JonesAce of SpadeThe iconic prints of the late Australian designer and decorator Florence Broadhurst have sparked a graphic collection from a major fashion brand, writes Andrea Jones.
The iconic prints of the late Australian designer and decorator Florence Broadhurst have sparked a graphic collection from a major fashion brand, writes Andrea Jones. It's the perfect marriage: fashion house kate spade new york, which is known for its classic, graphic designs, and Florence Broadhurst, the late Australian textile legend known for her classic, graphic prints.  Launching this month, kate spade new york's entire 2012 design collection will be based around Broadhurst's archival prints. You'll see fabulous frocks, jewelery, luggage, stationery, bedding — even tights — printed in some of her best-loved designs, plus a few archival patterns we haven't seen before. And they've been revved up, kate spade-style, with eye-popping accents of hot pink, lime and coral."Florence Broadhurst's prints were far ahead of their time," says kate spade new york Creative Director, Deborah Lloyd. Lloyd first stumbled upon Broadhurst in a bookshop, after she was drawn to the graphic red-and-white wallpaper on the cover of Broadhurst's biography, Florence Broadhurst: Her Secret and Extraordinary Lives, by Helen O'Neill.  "Once I read the book, I wanted to dive into her world," she says of the flamboyant Australian whose life included turns as a cabaret artist in Shanghai in the '20s, a self-styled French couturier in London in the '30s and, ultimately, an expat-British artist and decorator in Sydney from the '50s until the '70s, when she was murdered; a crime that has never been solved."The 2012 collection is inspired by the life of Broadhurst just as much as it's inspired by her prints," says Lloyd. For example, one look is a modern depiction of Broadhurst dressed to sail to Shanghai in the '20s, trunks under arm, all covered in her Japanese Floral design. Lloyd and her creative team visited Sydney last year to trawl the Broadhurst archive, owned by Australian company Signature Prints, for 12 fashion-forward designs. "Both brands share a similar sense of wit," says Lloyd.  The Florence Broadhurst for kate spade new york Table Top Collection is available at David Jones, and the the full collection via www.katespade.com. "I'm acutely aware of what this means for Florence Broadhurst on a global scale," says Helen Lennie, co-owner of Signature Prints. So great is the kate spade new york love affair with all things Broadhurst that each of its 130 stores worldwide have been refurbished in her prints — on wallpapers, ottomans and rugs. Who knew that Florence Broadhurst's now global fame would exceed all of the fanciful and ambitious identities she assumed in her lifetime?
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