Prue Acton OBE is an Australian fashion designer, often referred to as "Australia's golden girl of fashion" during the 1960s. (Pic, circa 1990.)
Framed within this wrought-iron balcony of a terrace house in Richmond, Acton's striking camel earring perfectly completed this portrait.
In 1963, according to Wikipedia:
... Acton established her own fashion design business in Melbourne, and by age 21, she was turning over 350 designs a year and selling an average of 1,000 dresses a week through 80 outlets in Australia and New Zealand... In 1967, she became the first Australian female designer to mount a show of her own range of garments in New York.
Acton's website tells of her 'lifelong love of colour and light' and mentions the awards received during her career:
'... including three international awards for Olympic Opening Ceremony Uniforms, five Australian Wool Board Awards, three David Jones Awards for Fashion Excellence and four Fashion Industry of Australia Lyrebird Awards, as well as receiving an OBE in 1982.'
**This photograph is part of an IA series that looks at Australia through the lens of award-winning photojournalist Bill McAuley.**
Bill McAuley's 40-plus-year news career began in 1969 as a cadet photographer at 'The Age' in Melbourne.
He has several published collections, including 'Portraits of the Soul: A lifetime of images with Bill McAuley' and 'Last light on Victoria Dock, 1999'. To see more from Bill, click here.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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