Australian fashion designer Leona Edmiston goes global

STYLE queen Leona Edmiston loves to travel and gain inspiration from foreign lands.

BY DESIGN: Leona Edmiston’s advice for visitors to Sydney is to take the ferry to Taronga

FOR Australian fashion designer Leona Edmiston, this year is looking especially chic.

Edmiston, who regularly sources prints and fabrics from across the globe, has drawn on the sparkling waters and casual glamour of the Cote d’Azur for her latest collection.

If you’ve left it too late to pop to the French Riviera yourself, the queen of frocks can help you out with some effortless French glamour this autumn.

If you had friends coming to visit you in Sydney, what would you insist they do?

LE: The Eastern Beaches Coastal Walk and Nielson Park for their amazing views, the Opera House and of course Taronga Zoo for its unparalleled view of the city, especially if you catch the ferry across.

Favourite place to travel in Australia?

LE: The Southern Highlands in New South Wales. I’m a bit of an Anglophile and it’s the closest thing to England we have here.

Does travel influence your design?

LE: My current collection is called Cote d’Azur and is influenced by the sparkling waters and locals of the region.

What’s the best thing you’ve eaten while travelling?

I always love the food in Bali – especially chef Will Meyrick’s two restaurants, Mamasan and Sarong.

Leona Edmiston.

Where to next?

LE: Sri Lanka – it has that fascinating colonial architecture mixed with its own cultural heritage and beautiful beaches and tea plantations in the hills.

Big city, hotel or B&B?

LE: Big city hotel. I’ve always adored the huge colonial and traditional hotels – it’s an experience on a scale you don’t get at home. One of my favourites is Hotel del Coronado near San Diego. Some Like It Hot was shot there. It’s one of those huge grand American hotels from another era and is completely eccentric.

Do you collect souvenirs?

LE: Yes (laughs) my home is filled with objects and memories bought from markets, antique and local stores. I always bring something special back to remind me of our travels.

Has anything gone wrong while you have been travelling?

LE: Years ago I bought a fantastic carpetbag from Liberty in London that was then stolen from my room in Paris even though I had hidden it.

If you could go on a fashion-inspired holiday anywhere in the world where would you go?

LE: The south of France. The people-watching is fabulous and the casual glamour is like nowhere else.

Worst place you have ever stayed?

LE: While on a road trip through the US with my brother, we stayed in a tent out in the wild – very scary.

Cheesiest thing you’ve done travelling?

LE: I went to Castle Howard in North Yorkshire to pose at the fountain where the Brideshead Revisited boys frolicked.

Where would you like to travel?

LE: I’ve never been to Egypt. I’d love to run around the Valley of the Kings.

Is there anything you can’t travel without?

LE: A sun hat and an all- weather Burberry jacket.

What has travel taught you?

LE: That Australia is not called the Lucky Country for nothing.

Leona Edmiston has 30 boutiques, is stocked in Myer nationally and is available online at leonaedmiston.com.au

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