An Australian Pioneer whose fashion ruled the world

Australian Fashion Pioneer Gloria Mortimer Dunn (Smythe) was couturier to the Queen and Royal Family. But her designs and patterns would change the fashion world forever.

Gloria was:

• The Designer behind Speedo for more than 29 years with more gold medalists wearing her designs than any other swimwear
• the Designer for 7 Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games
• the inventor of the multisize pattern
• the designer teacher of weaving, fashion design, and trade patternmaking at East Sydney Technical College in Sydney, Australia
• listed in the International Authors and Writers Who's Who for her texts on patternmaking, fashion design and fashion making.

I had the pleasure of meeting Gloria for the first time at Australian Fashion Week in 2006. I was just one of the designers eagerly awaiting the stream of interested International buyers we had all been promised, and Gloria Smythe picked me out of the crowd.

For 2 years I looked forward to my Tuesday afternoons with Gloria at her home in Bronte, sharing the trials and tribulations of my life as a designer, hearing the advice of this wisest oracle and in constant awe of the amazing woman that sat before me, who would honor our time together with coffee and biscuits.

Whenever I would leave Gloria’s home it was always with more and more vivid and diverse memories since the last visit, consistently reflecting a woman of great courage. Someone who was dedicated, knowledgeable, always ready to share her skills with others; of a loyal person who was both kind and thoughtful, and whose deeds are many but always silent; of a dear teacher whose infectious enthusiasm engulfed us all, even when we could not quite keep up with her.

It is not enough to say that in the days between my Tuesdays with Gloria and in the last 10 years of our written correspondence, that she will be greatly missed. Her work, her talent, her knowledge, her very presence that had enriched the fashion and sporting industries immeasurably in countless ways, humbly enriched mine. 

--- Gloria Mortimer Dunn (Smythe)

AN ASPIRATIONAL role model to all women, 89-year-old Gloria Smythe (Mortimer Dunn) was one Australian who always stood testimony to the female emancipation of our time. In 1952 following the completion of her Art Scholarship, Sydney-born Gloria Smythe sailed alone to London to visit the major Art Colleges and to study the London Fashion collections.

She worked hard, studied at the London School of Fashion and joined Horrockses Fashion as an assistant and patternmaker to head designer, John Tullis. Horrockses Fashions were renowned for their collections of resort wear, executive daywear, evening wear and haute couture.

Royal Couturier

It was at Horrockses that she became a woman who bewitched the world with her French couture for Queen Elizabeth and the Royal Family from 1952-1954 in her elegant workroom in the Earl of Suffolk’s former house in Hanover Square.

Gloria helped to design dresses for the Queen’s tour of Australia and Nigeria, for the Duchess of Kent and Princess Alexandra’s Canadian tour and for Princess Margaret’s Caribbean tour. Gloria also assisted in the development of more than 50 styles that are synonymous with the ready-to-wear of today, and were exported to America, Europe, and Australia.

Vogue and Harpers Bazaar

In her pursuit of excellence, Gloria was inspired by the classic designers of the periods. Dior and Chanel were of particular influence, as was the Interstoff textile festival and her cultural visits to the many museums and art galleries as she traveled the world.

It was Gloria’s designs that were photographed by London photographers Normal Parkinson and John French and seen in the pages of Vogue and Harpers Bazaar in 1953.

Gloria had met English journalist and photographer, Bernard Mortimer Dunn in 1951 and on the Christmas Eve of 1954 they were married in London.

Author and Teacher

On their return to Australia, her career took a twist away from couture and into swimwear and resort wear. Gloria freelanced for some years whilst she was writing her books and continued her passionate work as a teacher at East Sydney Technical College.

In her pursuit of excellence, Gloria Smythe has always chosen to share her knowledge with those around her, working full time and as a Teacher at East Sydney Technical College (now the Art School). Apart from the three years that Gloria spent in London, she had demonstrated her commitment to the education of our youth since 1947.

Gloria shared her love of textiles, weaving, and crafts with the students and authored four Fashion texts on patternmaking, fashion making, fashion design and children’s pattern making. Over the years, Gloria was the only teacher who had worked as a designer for international companies, both in Australia and overseas.

‘Multisize’ Pioneer

It was Gloria who introduced French Drapery to the curriculum and was the pioneer of the first ever “multisize” patterns in the country. Not realizing she needed to copyright her idea, Gloria’s innovation was adopted in a similar form by the major patternmaking companies and can be seen today all over the world.

Gloria’s traditional Chanel inspired suit, Jackie Kennedy Style Dress, and Hollywood Reversible Swimsuit was the innovative lift out in Woman’s Day magazines in the early 60s is still used by pattern makers today.

Gloria Smythe at 89 was as vibrant as her designs were when she first appeared. Her message to the contemporary woman was as fresh as ever ­–

“Be yourself, be daring, have fun and make the most of your individual self, and above all, continue to work for your dreams and do not believe anyone who may obstinately try to deny it to you.”

Lest we forget those incredible individuals in our community today who are still with us. Let us not lose them in the clutter of the generation of designers strutting down the catwalks of Fashion Weeks and splashed across web pages or YouTube and wait to pay tribute to them only on their passing. 

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If you would like to learn from Gloria you can find her publications here:  

• Fashion Design ISBN 0 574 28212 2
• Pattern Design ISBN 0 9594605 0 0
• Fashion Making ISBN 0 85179 907 8
• Pattern Design for Children ISBN 0 9594605 2 7

Next post: Gloria and Speedo take swimming by storm.

Note: I authored this feature for Gloria as a tribute to her when she was 79, in collaboration with Sydney's Eastern Suburbs magazine, Shop East. It was published in the March 2007 edition. Many thanks to its Editor, Ben Mitchell.