Carla Zampatti has been accorded many epithets in the pages of the Herald, and little wonder: the fashion designer is entering her 51st year of business.
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Since 1831 The Sydney Morning Herald has reported on our social customs and costumes, and the Herald was there in 1965 when Zampatti's name first began making it on to the presses.
Since then she has had thousands of words and metres of newsprint dedicated to her craft, her personal life and her many extracurricular activities, including her decade long tenure as chair of the SBS.
Next week the 73-year-old will open her Woollahra home to showcase black bridal gowns, brocade "that looks like a painting" and her most abstract looks to date.
Guests, including the usual society matrons, TV stars and fashion editors, can expect a "smattering of romance". After partnering with local label Romance Was Born last year to commemorate her label's half century, Zampatti has recruited Luke Sales and Anna Plunkett to style her spring-summer 2016 show.
"I've been to their shows and they are mind-blowing. I think they are our only haute couture company and designers. They belong to haute couture in Europe. So I wanted a bit of their romance and they have certainly given it to me," she said.
While she appreciates the young and new, Zampatti's continual success lies in the solid foundations of her past.
"I have two pattern makers who work with me and they have worked with me for 20 years, so we have been like children with new shapes and looks and drapes and it's been really good fun. Preparing for this new season has been like playing dress ups with dolls," she said.
As well as traditional practices in her studios, she also believes the strength of the fashion industry relies on a strong, independent fashion press.
"We need objective critical eyes. There are a lot of bloggers now but people respect what they read in a newspaper. They cover it in ways that bloggers don't. It's kind of an independent view. Bloggers are not always so independent, I don't know if they are totally independent or not but I personally love picking up a newspaper and reading someone's assessment of the Paris shows, the Milan shows and our Australian shows," she said.
