Designer and artist Jenny Kee is not only an Australian fashion icon but an enduring figure for almost 40 years. Known for her vivid and electric style, her kaleidoscopic collections are full of crafty couture that blend art and fashion. Recreating a preview of iconic works from her vintage archive, Kee is bringing back an Australiana twist to designer fashion and throwing a signature patterned spanner in the works with her limited edition capsule collection of knitwear this year at VAMFF.

We talked to Jenny about fashion, art, and her latest collaboration with Woolmark for A New Beginning currently exhibited at Pieces of Eight Gallery for the 2015 Cultural Program.

Youʼre known for your one of a kind iconic designs and a markedly Australian approach to craft, which through your marriage of lively hand painted collages with your love of Australian flora and fauna prints has established you as a quintessential pillar within the Australian fashion industry. Can you talk us through A New Beginning as a limited edition capsule collection at Pieces of Eight Gallery and the fashion influences that inform your work?

JK: In A New Beginning I wanted to create 8 iconic pieces from my archive of knits and rework them.  In this collaboration with The Woolmark Company I had a wonderful opportunity to work with the best wool in the world – Zegna Baruffa – and use new digital knitting technology. Whilst some of the designs may seem familiar, the collection also includes designs which would not have been seen before – for example The Jenny Kee Knit.

I love creating timeless classic shapes – that aren’t fashion and don’t date. As I said in 1980 -  “I don’t want to be restricted by fashion whims – it’s too temporary – I think my work is about lasting.” These new works will stand the test of time and will become collectors items as I have only released 50 pieces in each design – never to be repeated.

Can you tell us a little about the Australiana thematic within your work. Why is the native Waratah such a significant symbol for you?

JK: The 45 million year old Waratah is the flower that grows where I live in this very special part of the Blue Mountains and it is symbolic of destruction and re-birth – The Kali flower in nature rising from the ashes. My Buddhist practice is Red Tara – the waratah is Red Tara in the bush.  My instincts and emotions respond to this flower.  It is my totem.  I am surrounded by 2,000 waratahs when they blossom in Spring.

What are your plans for the future? Will your work continue further in this direction or are you planning for any major changes or collaborations? 

JK: I love working on limited edition pieces, such as this collection and my range of scarves – I love collaging my chaotic colourful art onto silk. At this stage of my life, It is important that any projects or collaborations are true to my philosophy and beliefs.

In your experience, how does the fashion world down under differ from the ones that stem from what some would call the fashion and cultural epicentres of London, Milan, New York, and Paris?

JK: The fashion world down under is very fresh and vibrant and designers, like Romance was Born, are incredibly original, always with a focus on art, as it was with Linda Jackson and me back in Flamingo Park days.

Weʼre at a very interesting juncture in the relationship between art and fashion in contemporary culture–as both an acclaimed artist and designer exhibiting work in a contemporary gallery space, can you comment on the relationship between the two mediums?

JK: Fashion and art come together in clothing and this has always been the principle philosophy informing my design – there is a big difference between art on the wall and art on the body.  For me a piece of silk or knit infused with my art is fluid and should be worn.

Increasingly, fashion has been given a platform in spaces where art is traditionally exhibited. Museums and galleries now showcase fashion design with as much consideration as they do fine art. Does it automatically follow that fashion be considered an art form?

JK: Yes of course fashion can be considered an art form – the recent Jean Paul Gaultier exhibition at the NGV is a great example of the bringing together of fashion and art. But it is always to be worn.

Both Fashion and art posses the special ability to challenge tradition, push aesthetic boundaries and reflect and inspire cultural movements. But where does one end and the other begin? To what extent do you believe that artists and designers can blur the lines by borrowing from one another and still be distinctly what they are?

JK: In the world of art and fashion – anything goes – and lines should be blurred if creativity is going to emerge.  Personally, again this is why I love creating timeless shapes which are my canvasses to be worn.  I work off the aesthetic of Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979) who used the integration of a wide range of artistic mediums to express her art. She has always been a huge inspiration for me from when I first started designing back in the early 70s and continues to be today.  She is an example of someone who has blended fashion and design with art, creating timeless pieces.

Art and Fashion enthusiasts have been invited to ‘secure a little piece of Australian fashion historyʼ through the purchase of your transformative garments throughout the duration of the exhibition. Does this opportunity challenge concepts of shopping and collecting? Is fashion moving more towards becoming a collectors game?

JK: This is exactly the rationale for my work but remember its coming from a standpoint of being in the industry for 50 years. My vintages pieces are collectors items and I hope that this new range will become so in the future. This collection represents a blend of Italian Baruffa wool, Chinese knitting technology with Australian design – my heritage in one!

A New Beginning is at Pieces of Eight Gallery for the duration of the 2015 Cultural Program.

For more information about Jenny Kee, click here.

Photo credit: Fashion Initiative