Italian-born Carla Zampatti AC (1942–2021) moved to a small town in Western Australia with her family in 1950. Having aspired to a fashion design career since childhood, she assembled her first collection, aged 23, in 1965 and by 1970 she’d established Carla Zampatti Ltd. She opened her first boutique in Surry Hills in 1972, with demand for her effortlessly elegant designs soon resulting in an additional three stores in Sydney. As renowned for her business acumen as her impeccable style, Zampatti was the first female chair of SBS (1999 to 2009), and served on many boards including those of the Sydney Dance Company, Westfield Holdings, the Australian Multicultural Foundation, Woolmark Corporation and the European Australian Business Council. At the time of her death in 2021, there were 26 Carla Zampatti boutiques and David Jones concessions across Australia and New Zealand.
