Jenny Bannister

The Jenny Bannister fashion label stands for contemporary eveningwear with a difference. Jenny’s garments are chic and elegant, and embody her own unique design signature forged through twenty-seven years of successful trading as a Melbourne based fashion designer and wholesaler.

Commencing her career in 1975 as a recycled denim designer, she launched the Jenny Bannister label the following year. In those early years Jenny experimented with various approaches to fashion design, and worked in versatile media including recycled fabrics, plastics, leather and luxury fabrics. Her designs were exhibited in shows here and abroad and she was quickly labelled as an Art Clothier.

Because of this creative and distinctive approach to denim, many significant pieces of her work have been collected by major art galleries and museums. International attention to her designs culminated in the 1980’s with sales to Los Angeles, New York and Dallas, as well as the competitive Singapore and Hong Kong markets.

While Jenny’s early designs had a radical inventive spirit, they evolved into couture and up-market boutique ranges for the wholesale market. But the label’s upbeat design signature has endured, from the plastic clipped mini dress (1979, Powerhouse Museum), through to her own snakeskin wedding dress (1985, Australian National Gallery), to more recent designs such as a fully boned and quilted silk satin corset (1996). More recently collected pieces have been sold through Christies in London.

It was in 1988 that the label moved successfully into the contemporary eveningwear market. Drawing on Jenny’s strengths in creating distinctive, elegant designs and her attention to fit and flattering styling that real women respond to strongly, the label was an instant success with customers and fashion magazines alike. Today Jenny’s company provides high quality evening and special occasions wear for the modern woman. The comprehensive collection contains a kaleidoscope of choices ranging from simple dinner dresses through to elaborate formal creations, which are sold nationally to selected boutiques and in her own flagship store in Chapel Street, Windsor.

The Jenny Bannister label is consistently represented in the Melbourne Fashion Festival and the Australian Designer Collections, and maintains continued press coverage and faithful following for television, film, sport and music personalities who choose the label when attending the most prestigious and highly exposed events.

Australia Post included Jenny in the Australian Legends for 2005 by honouring her with a postage stamp. Jenny was also inducted into the Stonnington Hall of Fame 2006, and she was chosen as an ambassador to Windana St Kilda 2006.

Store
80 Wellington Street
St Kilda
VIC 3182
Phone: +61 3 9510 8932
Email: jennyban@bigpond.net.au