Fashion elite gather for Carla Zampatti’s farewell
Carla Zampatti is remembered as a demanding, perfectionist ‘queen of fashion’ by her three surviving children and fashionistas.
Carla Zampatti’s children have described their late mother as affectionate, determined and enigmatic.
Alexander Schuman, Bianca Spender and Allegra Spender took it in turns to speak at the fashion legend’s state funeral, with Mr Schuman saying his mother was “a demanding boss and a demanding mother…she achieved more than she ever dreamed of and she wanted the same for you.”
Bianca Spender called her mother “a captivating presence” who drew you in with her “soft voice” and warm company.
“She was alive to beauty in any form. Dance, visual arts, fashion, architecture. The creativity of others genuinely inspired and uplifted her,” Ms Spender said.
Allegra Spender thanked her mother and said her family “will miss her warm presence, her perspective, her sense of fun, her love and care of us and the joy she took from the world”.
As the funeral began, Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher described Ms Zampatti as a “queen of fashion”.
Noting that state funerals are reserved for royalty in Britain, Archbishop Fisher said Ms Zampatti was a reigning monarch in Australia.
“Carla has been hailed as a great Australian whose passing is mourned by all who knew her and all who wore her,” Archbishop Fisher said.
“The late Prince Philip will not get a state funeral, as in Britain these are largely reserved to reigning monarchs. But here in Australia we are more generous and more democratic with such recognition. And it could be said that Carla is indeed a reigning monarch, a Queen of fashion.”
Archbishop Fisher said her fall on the opening night of La Traviata “poignantly took place in the midst of the high art and beauty she loved”.
A white pall was then draped over Ms Zampatti’s casket, along with rosary beads and a cross.
Ms Zampatti’s 19-year-old granddaughter, Brigid Schuman, read a passage from the bible.
It was followed by the hymn and then Ms Zampatti’s friend Jillian Broadbent followed with a second reading.
“That a nine-year-old could arrive from Italy with little English and no education could rise to great heights in a new country,” Archbishop Fisher said in a nod to Ms Zampatti’s innovative efforts in the fashion industry.
He explained she started making her own clothes at the age of 12, and then spent decades exploring her creativity through fashion.
Former Governor-General Dame Quentin Bryce desribed the late fashion icon as an ambitious and gentle woman.
“I was impressed by her honesty and candour and her sense of sisterhood and solidarity. And her railing against chauvinism and against those who begrudged women opportunities and success,” she said.
Dame Quentin said Zampatti was a person who became political because of her advocacy of women and women in business. “Society expected us to be good, go to school, be patient, get a job until we married and have children,” she said. “Some of us had other other ambitions. We wanted to have it all.
“I remember my very first Carla dress bought for me here in Sydney in 1969. It was purple with tiny red buttons. I have bought many since... I remember the first time I met in the summer of 1978. Before we met I could not have known we would share an enduring friendship that was so rich”.
Fashion elite gather
Hundreds of people including fashion’s elite have descended on St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney on Thursday to farewell legendary fashion icon Carla Zampatti.
Last week it was revealed the fashion designer’s life and legacy would be celebrated in a state funeral after the Berejiklian government confirmed Ms Zampatti’s family had agreed to the proposal.
The 78-year-old died after a week-long hospitalisation. She fell down a set of stairs at the opening of opera La Traviata at Mrs Macquarie’s Point earlier in the month.
It’s believed she was in a coma but never woke up.
Earlier, Ms Berejiklian described Ms Zampatti as a “trailblazer” and a role model for generations of Australians.
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