From the Archives, 1983: Rags and tatters with flair

“Its full of frustration and the feeling of being under pressure,” said Kerry, “We didn’t know where we were heading for at the time we made it. We were pretty depressed.”

When Jenny and Kerry arrived from Launceston earlier this year they had no idea of what to expect. They had high hopes of breaking into Sydney’s fashion business but they didn’t know Sydney at all.

You can wear them to a spiffy nightclub or to a band or to work depending on what you do.

Kerry Grima

‘“We arrived with 13 suitcases and four sewing machines. We didn’t know where to stay and ended up in this really divey dump in the Inner City with cockroaches jumping everywhere. There were five people really bombed out on a bed in the front room with the television on. Our room didn’t have any windows and smelt. We were in tears. We walked around the City all night and came home to find the five people still bombed out with the TV on.”

Four months from then their clothes are in demand.

Kerry says they’re so busy with orders they’ve given up sex, drugs and going out raging. They’ve given up on friends who are into those things and some of their friends have, understandably, given up on them.

Instead, he sits over an ancient black Singer and she paws away at a sleek new Bernina. Sometimes, they say, they stay that way all day and all night.

Kerry and Jenny advertise their clothes by simply wearing them everywhere they go. Now Authentic Designs, on Oxford Street, Paddington, shop stocks their designs which range in price from $50 to $310 and Nice Things, at Paddington, sells their accessories.

Kerry says “arty people and hairdressers” are their main clients. One Paddington shopowner had called them the day before in desperation and commissioned an outfit to be made for that night to be worn to a cocktail party at Arthurs.

“A lot of introverts can’t wear the clothing and a lot of straight people appreciate them but they’re so into their jeans and T-shirts they wouldn’t wear anything different.

“We have friends around to see how they feel putting the clothes on. You can dress yourself and put it all on exactly how you want to do it. You can totally change an outfit to suit your look. People love it.”

They stress the clothes are versatile in the sense that you can dress them up or down. You can decorate a dress with countless ripped layers or leave it plain with rugged, battered belts and moth-eaten scarves.

“You can wear them to a spiffy nightclub or to a band or to work depending on what you do,” said Kerry.

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They never make the same outfit twice and don’t believe in patterns. “The only thing we’ve ever repeated was three bridesmaids’ dresses for a friend’s wedding — they were plain and boring.”

Each work is a new creation, each painted mark different: “If anyone copied our design, it wouldn’t be the end of the world – we’d just come up with some totally different ideas.”