Exhibition9 Mar – 8 May 2021
Jenny Bannister Raids the Archives
View the virtual exhibition here. Iconic fashion designer Jenny Bannister started her own label in Melbourne at the height of the 1970s…
Jenny Bannister Raids the Archive: Virtual Exhibition Walkthrough
Iconic fashion designer Jenny Bannister started her own label in Melbourne at the height of the 1970s radical fashion movement. Inspired by punk, her label Jenny Bannister Fashion was known for its distinctive and creative approach to design that incorporated plastic, metal, fur and found objects.
Bannister led the recycled fashion movement and in 1986, she was picked in a group of designers to represent emerging Australian fashion for US department store Neiman Marcus. Her clothes evolved into couture and contemporary evening wear with a loyal celebrity following.
Major art galleries and museums and private collections around the world have snapped up Bannister’s designs for their archives, including the National Gallery of Victoria, Australian National Gallery, Powerhouse Museum, and Washington’s Smithsonian.
Now the designer – and RMIT alumnus – has taken a good look inside RMIT’s own Cultural Collections to curate an exhibition that reflects RMIT University’s history as an incubator of design in all its forms.
