Collection Online
Dress
Medium
polyester (satin), synthetic polymer paint, metal (fastening)
Measurements
122.0 cm (centre back) 30.5 cm (waist, flat)
Place/s of Execution
Melbourne, Victoria
Inscription
label, left back waistline, woven in black on white polyester: Prue / acton
Accession Number
2023.613
Department
Australian Fashion and Textiles
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Andrea Comerford, 2023
Gallery location
Gallery 11
Level 2, NGV Australia
About this work

Born in Benalla in 1943, Prue Acton completed a Diploma of Art with a major in Printed Textiles at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 1962. The following year, Acton established her own inexpensive trend-focused fashion label in Flinders Lane, Melbourne. Acton dominated the youth market throughout the 1960s, and by the 1970s her garments, cosmetics and perfumes were retailing in the United States and beyond. Dress is emblematic of the clean, spare lines of Acton’s designs, original textiles and her love of art and nature.