Dressing Sydney: The Jewish Fashion Story, An Exhibition

摘要

The contribution of Jews to the clothing and textile industries is a story that has been treated with increasing depth in a number of publications and exhibitions over the past two decades. From their narrowly proscribed roles in the medieval European schmatte trade (Yiddish for 'rags'), Jews developed networks, skills and a knack for entre-preneurship that flourished during the age of industrialization through to the present era. In pre-Nazi Germany, Jews owned and operated more than half of the country's clothing businesses, while in the United States of America, Jews have been an integral part of the clothing industry at every level from piece-workers, to global brands and celebrity designers. The Australian experience was no different. However, it was not until the arrival of refugees in the 1930s, and particularly post-war immigration, that Jews would replicate a similar scale of achievement in the Antipodes to that of their counterparts in the northern hemisphere. In this concise and lively book, curator Roslyn Sugarman and historian Peter McNeil capture the spirit of entrepreneurial drive and ingenuity that characterizes the thousands of Jewish emigres who settled in Sydney and established thriving businesses at every level of the industry.