From Wendouree to world fashion label

INTERNATIONAL fashion designer Rebecca Vallance’s clothes may be on the shelves of major department store David Jones, but she has not forgotten her roots in Ballarat.

Ms Vallance spent her school holidays at her grandmother’s Wendouree home, the two sitting together at the sewing machine.

She made her first piece when she was only nine or 10: a black and white trench coat. “Nothing else was of interest to me. I knew nothing else. It was always fashion,” Ms Vallance said.

“My grandmother is a very talented seamstress. I learnt a lot from her and she still calls me to talk about trends.”

Her clothes are now stocked all over the world, after starting her label ‘Rebecca Vallance’ in 2006 while living between Malta and London, then returning to Sydney two and a half years ago.

She had an early break in modelling through the Girlfriend magazine model competition when she was only 13 and from there gained an agent and went on shoots and castings.

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When Ms Vallance was 18 she pursued modelling and fashion studies in Melbourne, later moving to Sydney before going to Europe.

She said it was a natural progression from modelling to fashion publicity to fashion design.

Her summer/spring 2014 line went on the shelves at David Jones on Thursday, with pieces that were shown at New York Fashion Week in February.

She said her brand was already stocked in international department store Harvey Nichols.

“‘Rebecca Vallance’ is a ready-to-wear women’s label, contemporary fashion with European fabrications and primarily made in Australia.”

Six months pregnant, she said she was happy to be closer to her family in Australia.

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