In my early teens this evolved into a passion for alternative and experimental music and the style and culture that was inspired
by this.
My Mum had a strong sense of style and we shared a love of unique design, admiring designers like Stuart Membery, Prue Acton, Sally Browne and Lydia Pearson. I started collecting and experimenting with vintage clothing from local charity stores and also alternative hair styles and became a regular follower of the live music scene on the Sunshine Coast and
in Brisbane.
I followed bands like The Go-Betweens, Pel Mel, The Johnnies, The Birthday Party, The Sunnyboys, The Hoodoo Gurus, The Cure, The Celibate Rifles, The Associates, The Cramps, The Gun Club... I clearly remember my first purchase from Rocking Horse Records on Adelaide Street in 1981 - a Birthday Party album and a Souixsie and The Banshees T-shirt!
It was also around this time in the early 1980's that I discovered Stiletto Magazine which was Australia's answer to Andy Warhol's Interview Magazine from the States. Stiletto showcased directional Australian fashion, music, culture in avant garde style editorial including Brisbane designers Belltower, Lyn Hadley and Rhonda Reid.
This was an amazing alternative media form in contrast to the mainstream press where these labels would have found it difficult to get a look in. It was a platform for Brisbane fashion and music to be showcased on a national level with like-minded people.
This strong time of creativity and these labels inspired me. These designers were going up against corporate fashion
labels that dominated mainstream fashion. They were actually creating. They helped unleash my direction in life - that I wanted to be a part of the creative culture and to be a part of the movement against the ordinary - where everything should be extraordinary!
I moved to Brisbane in 1986 and immediately enrolled to study fashion, which I did part-time at Mt Gravatt TAFE until the end
on 1989.
I explored the Brisbane fashion and music scene, regularly attending fashion parades and events relating to the creative
scene.
In May 1990, I opened Blonde Venus in the city's Elizabeth Arcade. My aim was to create an eclectic boutique that showcased creative and forward design. This did not necessarily have to be all fashion but encompass ideas of the lifestyle and genre -art, books, music etc. The concept of the boutique was also not necessarily high end, but definitely exclusive and to be a platform for new designers.
I stocked my own label Theodora Goes Wild along with a mixture of then emerging Australian labels including Zimmermann and Third Millenium, alongside international labels including Pam Hogg, Betsey Johnson and Patricia Field, all of which had never been stocked in Queensland before.
I put the word out in the fashion community and started stocking local designers - home grown pieces from Angela Sinnett and Bec Litchfield, graphic design pieces by Dominique O'Leary, industrial jewellery by Stephen Gallagher. It was then that I also met Mark Wilson from Hairy Dog and we did our first parade together at an art space called Gallery Brutal at Isn't Studios on Gipp Streetin Fortitude Valley. I also met and stocked designs by underground design duo Two Blue Fish, who were Vicki Martin and Karen Blinco.
-Kellie Alderman, Time Off 1990-
The link with art and fashion continued and I later participated in events for Brisbane's Art Right team – a group that were using art to raise funds for human rights. Their first exhibition was at the then MoCA on Petrie Terrace and was actually opened by the Dalai Lama on May 10th, 1991. Blonde Venus participated in Art Right’s Dance-Rite, which was
a dance party at McWhirters Art Space and later an event at the Riverside Ballroom in New Farm, where designers had to design pieces inspired by Madonna. I chose the Byzantine version!
The late 1980's and early 1990's saw the underground explosion of dance music and dance party culture. These events would often draw massive crowds of gorgeous young things dressed in the very latest. It became quite competitive with girls and guys buying a new outfit for each event and the fashion was quite "extreme".
Fashion parades became a big part of this scene and Blonde Venus was regularly involved in these along with the other cool Brisbane boutiques of the time The Mask, Hyaena, Chi Chi Deluxe and Betty Britches.
The night club fashion parade was a major concept throughout this time and it was then the way to present emerging fashion
design as well as our burgeoning make-up and hair stylists, models, dancers, choreographers, sound and lighting technicians
and of course DJ's.
These parades were often quite kitsch and flamboyant choreographed dance routines, reflecting the dance and club culture of the time. Regular names in the scene included Peter Brown, Tim Gruchy, Michael Watt, Adrian Barker, Lance Leopard, Edwin, Johnny Griffin, Thomas Sidey, Jane Slingo, Lyndell Mansfield, Danielle Pedrina, Matt Kitshon…
Some of the bigger dance party events included: The RAT Parties (Recreational, Art's Team), Adrenalin, Adventjah, Blackout, Magic Roundabout, Fantazia and Infinity.
These events were held at clubs and venues like The Roxy, Transformers, Manhattan/The Site, The Alarm, Lexington Queen,
Metropolis, The Fag Bar and later Grand Orbit.
The RAQ Fashion Awards were a popular event on the Brisbane fashion calender and the pressure to be involved
was quite compelling. It almost felt like a path for acceptance into certain circles. I entered three times and I finally became a finalist with my label which I had then renamed Theodora in 1994. The experience of attending the awards was an eye
opener and made me realize that this perhaps wasn't the right environment for me.
There was a feel of change in the city in the mid 1990's. City rents had escalated and some stores had closed
down or changed direction. In 1995, I decided to move the store into the mostly vacant block on Ann Street, below The Zoo in Fortitude Valley.
-Ann Street 1995 (above)
I figured that the store would always be a destination boutique and Fortitude Valley had long been a cool social destination.
Patience and hard work paid off. In 1996, Brisbane emerging architect Adrian Spence re-designed the store interior which has become it's signature style.
Nineties minimalism kicked in and Brisbane was again evolving and feeling a sense of sophistication. Sydney designers like Morrissey Edmiston, Wayne Cooper's Brave and Melbourne's Saba opened up in the city's Wintergarden.
Mercedes Australian Fashion Week launched in Sydney in 1995 heralding a new era in Australian fashion. This was the first time that Australia could present itself internationally on a professional catwalk level, as a collective.
Also, it was the first time that we could network with other retailers, designers, photographers, hair stylists
and particularly media on a national level.
The night club fashion parades as we new them moved out of favour and we looked at new ways of promoting and presenting.
In fact, I tried to distance Blonde Venus from the eccentric days of the early 1990's and it was quite some time before I hosted another fashion show.
Contemporary style cocktail bars became the place to go and for Brisbane it was Gerties, The Lychee Lounge and later The Press Club.
In 1998, I held two Sunday afternoon fashion parades as season launches which were stylish sit-down affairs, one at Jamesons Restaurant and the other at Fortitude Valley's Latin Cafe.
In 1999 I launched our Spring/Summer season at the Press Club with a catwalk show.
Caroline Gardam and Margot Davies launched Minni Magazine in 1999, a small bi-monthly free glossy filled with Brisbane fashion and lifestyle.
In 2000, Australian Fashion Week team launched the Mercedes Start-Up Programme. The advent of these awards for young designers marked a new time and confidence for fashion in Brisbane.
The awards were a national event which also included New Zealand and the support of MAFW meant that the designers received immense support and coverage by national media, which crossed into international recognition.
This included editorial in our major fashion magazines including Vogue Australia, Harper's Bazaar and also avast on-line presence. The awards elevated our young designers confidence in that they could be based in Brisbane but were accepted as
international. Finalists included Brisbane labels such as Gail Sorronda,Shiloh Engelbrecht, John Prikryl and George Wu.
Australian Fashion Week invited me to be on their National Selection Panel and I am currently on their Advisory Board.
Edgy London based magazine Wallpaper, put us on the international fashion map in 2002, in their feature on Fortitude Valley as a cool shopping destination.
In 2002, I hosted another season launch at The Press Club and in 2003, a seated show at the brand new Judith Wright Centre for Contemporary Arts. With both of these events, I incorporated performance dance pieces in addition to a traditional catwalk parade to create a unique event.
The addition of the Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Fashion at QUT in 2002 has made a huge impact on the progression
of fashion in Brisbane in leaps and bounds. Leading the course with international experience from the London College of Fashion is Suzi Vaughan and she has certainly been responsible for another shift in confidence and inspired a more progressive fashion community.
In 2004 QUT, invited me to assist the final year fashion students with feedback on their collections and also guidance, during assessment. I am still undertaking this role.
Gail Reid was in the first batch of graduates from the degree in 2005. Blonde Venus was the first store to stock the label and Gail quickly gained media attention with her striking black and white collection and her own quirky style.
In 2002, my partner Matt Brady joined me in the business and we opened a second Blonde Venus at Vulture Street, West End.
A memorable event we held there was the season launch for Perks and Mini’s Lights Over Egypt Collection with an amazing pyramid light installation by artist Timothy Kendall Edson.
After three years, this store had taken on it's own personality so we decided to move it to Winn Street
in Fortitude Valley (just around the corner from BV) and re-named it The Outpost after the cool local band
venue from the 1980's.
This move enabled us to streamline Blonde Venus by moving some of the more street based themes into The Outpost, including books, zines, toys and artwork.
The concept has worked into many in-store music and art events and also the annual art show I Used To Skate Once, which now in it's fifth year drew a crowd of nearly 1400 people on it's opening night (above) on June 25th 2009.
We have hosted a series of other incredible launches at Blonde Venus this decade.
In 2001 we participated in the public art concept Retail Therapy. Retail Therapy was an integrated temporary public art exhibition, using the shop fronts of fashion retailers in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley. 14 artists and designers worked with individual retailers with the retailer as client.
In 2002 and 2003 we participated in the Straight Out of Brisbane Festival, again with the concept of temporary
public art in our store windows.
We held launches for Yen Magazines Curvy Book, for issue number 2 and number 5 in 2005 and 2008 respectively.
In 2004, we held a huge launch party for the Karen Walker “Queenie Was a Dog” collection Vs the Perks and Mini “It’s a Balls Up” collection. The party was an inside / outside event with champagne and hotdogs, London Fashion Week footage and shopping mania!
In February 2008 we launched Chloe Sevigny’s debut collection for Opening Ceremony in Australia with an in-store event featuring Rose and cupcakes and a live performance by Brisbane all girl band Feathers.
Over the years Blonde Venus has been the first to introduce an incredible array of labels to Brisbane.
Australian labels have included Zimmermann, Third Millenium, Bettina Liano, Wheels and Doll Baby, Alannah Hill, Foxes, Mad Cortes, Toni Maticevski, Rebecca Dawson, Teresa Ruiz, Marnie Skillings, Jon Hewitt, Anthony Kendall, Gary Bigeni, Akira, Caravana, Alice McCall, Youthworld / Therese Rawsthorne, Gail Sorronda, Nicholas Wilsdon, Josh Goot, Michelle Robinson, Elke Kramer, Carly Hunter...
International labels have included Patricia Field, Betsey Johnson, Pam Hogg, John Fluevog Shoes, Preen, House of Jazz, Little Joe, Liness, C&C California, Miller Harris, Eley Kishimoto, Hussein Chalayan, Peter Jensen, Lara Bohinc, Jens Laugesen...
There are also many international labels that we have launched exclusively into Australia, including James Jeans, Park Vogel, Elizabeth Galton, Sinha Stanic, Gaspard Yurkievich, Andrea Crews, Dolly, Ann-Sofie Back, Richard Nicoll, Chloe Sevigny for Opening Ceremony, Peter Pilotto, House of Holland, Mary Katrantzou.
The Fortitude Valley area has continuously grown and emerged into Brisbane's avant garde centre for fashion,music and art drawing a constant stream of interstate and overseas visitors.
Brisbane has found it's feet as a modern city that is eager for ideas and is still growing at a rapid rate.
Thea
