The colourful threads that weave the fabric of a fashionable 30 years.
Liz Davenport spent her childhood living in Western Australia’s South West on a farm. Growing up with the Stirling Ranges,Mt. Warrungup (now Mt. Trio) as her own back yard. Liz with her four sisters and one brother would spend many hours rambling around enjoying the delights that nature presented.
She learned the skills that last a lifetime, and gained a respect for every living creature, Liz’s Mother would say “Under every piece of bark and every stone you will find a living creature. Put the things back as you found them”.
Aside from enjoying the delights of nature, at the age of six Liz was already developing another love. This being her one and only beloved doll, Patsy!
“I was obsessed with dressing Patsy, she was a round chubby doll but everyday I would rush home from school just to play dress ups with her”. I would make her new outfits and even made her some magnificent “bed linen” to match her skirts”.
I am amazed at how great childhood influences can be in shaping the rest of our lives.
By the age of 11 Liz could make her own clothes to wear to primary school and at boarding school every dressmaking prize had her name on it. Fashion had become a passionate hobby.
Liz’s career path saw her teaching for 8 years before making the change to fashion agent.
“As a fashion agent selling collections for other designers I quickly came to realise the importance of the ‘supply and demand’ rule”.
Liz began to design ‘Hot Items’ to fill the gaps. She then combined her extensive grass roots experience with business savvy and the Liz Davenport brand was born.
“Most of my inspiration comes from a desire to please women and make them feel great about the way they look. Women often feel inadequate or ‘failures’ because they dared to get bigger than a size 12.
I am my own example and base my fit on ‘a very realistic, curvy body’.
I believe that it is this modern view that makes my designs so unique. The use of colour and coordination is born from countless hours of experience, research and experimentation.
Liz is not only an amazing and very successful womenswear designer and business women. She is also a wife and mother to 3 wonderful children who are all successful in their own right, as well as being heavily involved with the company.
It’s official she really is wonder woman (shush don’t tell anyone!!!!!!).
Along with Liz’s immediate family, her extended family embraces the team in Head office and the wonderful women in the 14 stores.
“I believe in personal contact therefore we all work very closely together, which has allowed the company to keep evolving, and for the communication channels to flow freely”.
The trust between us is like the bond between family members, and our success is achieved by working as a team, not just individually”.
“We have members of the team who have worked with me for more than 25 years”.