With many designers you can get the impression of one or two central ideas, perhaps the ones that brought them to the world’s attention, that are visible throughout their collections. Essense of Australia is a very different brand; possibly because Australia is itself is such a young country still and such an eclectic mixture of races and cultures, there is not the impression of an Australian heritage trying to justify a place in the world, but rather an exciting openness and exhilaration that welcomes ideas and themes from across the globe.

For Martine Harris, Creative Director at Essense, their starting point is not a fixed idea but the fabric and what the fabric says to them, both visually and sensuously through touch. Martine takes the sheerest of silk organzas and through extraordinary skill of drape, ruche and cut, encourages the fabric to form floral statements without for a moment losing the elegance of flow.