Fashion designer to the stars Bronwyn Smith dies after brave cancer battle

Family have led tributes to a pioneer of Brisbane fashion who has been remembered as a lover of colour whose mantra was: “life’s too short to wear boring clothes”.

Powerhouse fashion designer Bronwyn Smith has passed away. Photo: Salty Dingo 2024

Powerhouse fashion designer Bronwyn Smith, of the iconic Irma J Smith House of Fashion, has passed away after a brave and fierce battle with breast cancer.

Ms Smith, who died on Tuesday, lived for the business which her late mother Irma started more than 70 years ago.

In 2023 when doctors told Ms Smith to take a year off if she hoped to beat the disease, she chose the opposite, working every day until last month when her final collection debuted at the Brisbane Arcade fashion parade.

A lover of colour and a stickler for the finest European fabrics and tailoring, Ms Smith’s mantra was “life’s too short to wear boring clothes”, closely followed by “always be overdressed rather than overlooked”.

Powerhouse fashion designer Bronwyn Smith, has died after a brave and fierce battle with breast cancer. Photo: Supplied.

A staple of the Brisbane Arcade since 1996, the label has famously outfitted identities including TV presenter Sharyn Ghidella and former foreign minister Julie Bishop and many a Queensland race-goer and mother-of-the-bride.

Ms Smith did not have children but was adored and admired by her nephew and two nieces.

Cameron Smith described her and his Gympie-born grandmother, who died in 2012, as pioneers of power dressing and trailblazers for women in business.

Bronwyn and Marabeth Smith of Irma J Smith fashion house. Picture: File

Speaking on Friday from the Brisbane Arcade store, Mr Smith said it was inevitable that “the business will be lost to time, as not many people do the style of fashion that they did”.

“They were pioneers in the truest sense of the word.”

Jocelyn Conlon-Smith said after her aunt left school at Clayfield College, she joined her mother and (late) sister Maribeth in the family operation.

“She grew up in the business and so it was the next logical step,” Ms Conlon-Smith said.

Julie Bishop was one of Ms Smith’s many well-known identities to wear her label.

“She was very much one of a kind, very passionate about the industry and women dressing well.

“Her signature outfit was the sexy skirt and the pussy bow blouse and a Chanel-style jacket – and she never wore something she didn’t make.”

Well-known fashion stylist Di Cant said when she thinks of the Irma J Smith label, “elegance comes to mind, always”.

“She could get the balance of the jacket to the skirt, and the suits walked well,” Ms Cant said.

Melinda Smith said: “She went out the way she always did, in style with her lipstick on, determined to keep going.”

Fashion designer Bronwyn Smith at her family's boutique, 'Irma J Smith at the Brisbane Arcade in 1997. Picture: File

Ms Smith passed away in the Wesley Hospital, and her family said doctors were astounded by her positive, can-do attitude.

“They said what happened with her was a miracle – she did a runway show the day after a mastectomy last year,” Mr Smith said.

“Bronywn WAS the business.”

The Irma J Smith Fashion House was started in the 1950s, and had stand-alone stores in Coorparoo, Chermside and Moorooka.

It also was a tenant in the Blocksidge Ferguson Arcade and Mayfair Arcade in Adelaide Street.

Originally published as Fashion designer to the stars Bronwyn Smith dies after brave cancer battle