Titled ‘Dinastia’, the Italian word for dynasty, Carla Zampatti’s creative director Karlie Ungar made it clear she is showing due regard to the weight of the legacy she has been faced with since her appointment, and the passing of Zampatti herself, in 2021. How can you not dip a well-coiffed head to the over five decades that Carla Zampatti CE, denizen of Australian fashion, spent authoring a modern brand of elegance and razor sharp tailoring that empowered Australian women, all the while surviving in one of the toughest industries on one of the furthest continents from the big four fashion capitals? 

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On the runway bearing her name, the label returned to Australian fashion week with Ungar initiating a chapter of modern elegance built thoughtfully on Zampatti’s bedrock. Smart tailored vests belted at the waist, jet jumpsuits and pleat front trousers were precisely tailored with a twist: many came with curves, either at the lapel, or sculpted at the bottom in lieu of tails telegraphing a feminine brand of power. These co-mingled with white jacquard opera coats in chalk and black and skirts and chubby jackets with a fringed metallic-flecked thread, an update on feathers—a very Zampatti signature. Ungar did this consciously, also drawing on jacquards and plumes in the archive—all a touch ’70s, the era when Zampatti clothed women for the workforce, and will satisfy the Zampatti faithful (of which there are many). 

The palette was tastefully considered in an Italian array of sage, travertines and bitter espresso. Ungar wanted to nod to Zampatti’s proud Italian heritage in a layered way, so came a map print of the country itself on a gossamer scarf top and Romanesque coins appearing as buttons on collarless blazers, and as hardware on belts. The sleek lines of glossy croc-embossed pencil skirt coupled with a distinct evening bent conveyed a feeling of dynasty but also, in warm tones, “family coming together—and also our customer being our family, and the empowerment, that is central to everything that we do.” 

She’s wanting to expand that customer base, but carefully, teasing more newness—as in the sheer contouring, an update on Zampatti’s sheer panelling. “Each season, I go through some renewal and look at how we can represent that,” she said pointing to the abbreviated, youthful proportions of minis and briefs with stockings. So far, so good a response from clients who, she reports, are loving buildable sheer layers like gowns over bodysuits. These came with a motif she was building, scalloped undulating furbelows in mille feuille layers that wrapped around torsos and spilt across and down the backs of gowns.

With the brand signalling an upcoming international focus—strong sales online to overseas customers no doubt giving them the confidence to look further afield—Ungar said the time was right to make their runway return at fashion week, previously sensitive to the emotions of loss. In that vein a coda of black gowns closed, in those rippling layers; showstoppers with an elegiac note. A fitting nod to Carla, who prided herself on moving onwards and always looking for what’s next. 

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