Heralding a world of Jewish fashion
WHEN Holocaust survivors Aneta and Josef Weinreich migrated to Australia in 1947 to start their life anew, they noticed that leading fashion boutiques sold only white shirts.
Realising a gap in the market for coloured shirts, they quickly set the wheels in motion to start their own fashion line.
The couple bought coloured fabrics and created a makeshift work area in their bedroom. Josef bought a knife and started cutting, while Aneta drew up the patterns and sewed the shirts together.
The buyer of their clothes, who was also the owner of the boutique selling pure white shirts, dubbed the couple’s new line the “Rainbow of Sydney”, and a thriving clothing business – which continues today – was born.
This is one of many stories behind the shmatte trade that is featured in a new exhibition, Dressing Sydney: The Jewish Fashion Story, which opened last week at the Sydney Jewish Museum (SJM).
The exhibition, which runs until December 2013, includes rare photographs, garments and accessories covering the history of the rag trade.
It also looks at how Peter Weiss, king of the shirtmaker dress, got his start in clothing and went on to design and manufacture uniforms for major corporations, including Westpac Bank and Medibank Private, and the Weiss concept stores.
In the 1950s, Margaret Gutman and June Dally Watkins created a concept called “Shopping While You Work”, taking clothes to the factories and holding fashion parades during lunch breaks.
Another innovator was Nathan Waigensberg, a Holocaust survivor from Poland, who started N Waige & Co, a recycled clothing company that collected old clothes, cut them into rags and sold them as cleaning wipers to factories. After 60 years and three generations, N Waige & Co is still providing industrial cleaning rags and supplying retail outlets with vintage clothing.
The exhibition also looks at the early days of making garments and manufacturing clothes and explores the roots of iconic brands such as Seafolly, Jets Swimwear, Best & Less, Lowes, Cornelius Furs, Anthony Squires and Dinosaur Designs.
SJM’s John Saunders Curatorial Chair, Roslyn Sugarman, said the exhibition offers a “snapshot of the enormous contribution made to what is no longer a shmatte industry, but a fashion one”.
“The story of Jews who came to Australia, having lost everything except their lives, and started up in the fashion and garment industry, is inspiring.
“Their entrepreneurship, ingenuity and work ethic was rewarded with respect and acceptance in the country that gave them countless opportunities and a safe place to establish a new life. This is a tribute to their contribution to the economy and to Australian fashion.”
The opening of the Dressing Sydney exhibition coincides with NSW History Week, which tackles the theme of threads.
Associate Professor Margaret Maynard will talk on “Deceptive Habits” at the SJM on September 13, exploring the similarities between clothes and human expression.
Dressing Sydney: The Jewish Fashion Story is at the Sydney Jewish Museum, 148 Darlinghurst Road, Darlinghurst until December 2013. Enquiries: www.sydneyjewishmuseum.com.au.
REPORT by Timna Jacks
PHOTO of curator Roslyn Sugarman at the Dressing Sydney: The Jewish Fashion Story exhibition at the Sydney Jewish Museum.
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