Every one thought that designer Prue Acton would be a flop when the blonde haired, blue eyed young Australian started business in 1963. She was just 19 and had her parents financial help.

In the 1980s Fraser McEwing of the trade publication Ragtrader said this of Prue: 'I remember her, walking around determined to combine colours that everyone knew couldn't be combined, things like orange and red, saying "Well I've got this rug from Mexico and it looks good to me". "Rubbish," I said. There goes a girl who'll never make any money and be a complete flop. How awful for her parents, because they're backing her. Well, I was wrong.'

Prue had been interested in fashion from an early age. She sewed her own clothes as a child and studied textile design at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology as a teenager.

After leaving RMIT she started her own business with £300 from her parents. After six months her parents loaned her some more money and then the business became extremely successful.

She captured the mood of the decade and earned an international reputation. Her trend-setting designs featured clashing colours and were considered 'way out' but customers bought them.

In 1982 estimated world wide sales were $11 million with garments sold in Australia, Japan, USA, Canada and New Zealand.

Last updated: June 01, 2003

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