Jenny Kee's Spiritual Home

Lovers of Leisure

Jenny Kee

Photography by Anna Pihan

We meet with Jenny Kee in the Blue Mountains over a cup of Japanese genmaicha tea and a slice of pear and ginger cake from the local bakery, at her Blackheath abode which was lovingly made by her late partner Danton Hughes. She joins us as a part of the Blue Mountains Travel Guide. We chat with Jenny Kee, the legendary fashion icon and artist making waves since the 70’s with her Koala sweaters worn by Princess Diana, about the magic of the Blue Mountains, what inspires her and her favourite native flower.

“That show had revolved around these three places we'd been to, Crete, India and Uluru in 1980 –– it was a visually exciting night!”

Get to know Jenny Kee...

A pioneer of Australian style and internationally acclaimed artist and designer, Jenny Kee's vibrant art and design reflects her deep passion for the unique and precious Australian landscape.

Jenny Kee grew up by the glittering blue ocean, born in Bondi, Sydney, in 1947 to a Chinese father and an English/Italian mother. She took to London in the mid 60's. "In those days you didn't fly, you went to London by ship." She worked with style guru and vintage trailblazer Vern Lambert at London's Chelsea Antique Market…“For me, Chelsea market was the school of fashion and life ... we didn't just flog frocks and style ourselves, we styled everyone who came in, from Mick Jagger to Marianne Faithfull to Jimi Hendrix. It was like directing wardrobe on a movie set calledThe Sixties”. Jenny returned back to Australia in 1973, and opened her famous frock salon Flamingo Park in Sydney's Strand Arcade. With designer Linda Jackson, they created an Australian identity in fashion. Their ‘Flamingo Follies’ shows from 1974 – 1981 became legendary events.

Jenny's work has appeared on silk, on paper, on wool, on cotton, on ceramics and on canvas over the last 50 years. Her creativity has been shaped by an eclectic mix of global influences, from Aboriginal Australian to early European, and the exotic arts of Africa, India, Asia and South America. Karl Lagerfeld was so impressed with Kee's black opal design that he used the silk fabric in his first ready-to-wear collection for Chanel in 1983. Jenny's distinctive style has evolved, with a deep passion for nature, especially the bush that surrounds her in the Blue Mountains.

“Its a passionate flower. Passion for love, for life, so many things... and my work.”

How do you spend your leisure time?

Walking in nature. Neats Glenn, the Grand Canyon, it just gets better every time, I love that walk so much! If you go through the tunnel and come out, it's completely green, the moss is electric! It feels magical, and it always does. I started this 50 years ago, and it always feels magical, it never fades.

Swimming at Katoomba pool doing mantra for one hour and walking in bush and to town, pilates and yoga everyday - that's really important to me.

In what way is leisure time important for your creativity?

It keeps me present––it's messy inside my head and I'm often up working late with ideas.

“When I look out onto the Grose Valley I feel a sense of timelessness.”

Is there a project that has been inspired by leisure?

Flamingo Park became a meeting place for creatives. Australia was becoming a creative place to be in. In the 70s the film industry started and people all wanted to make a statement about being Australian. Gough Whitlam was Prime Minister and a there was a feeling for change.

Linda Jackson and I did fashion shows –– Flamingo Follies. I had been in Crete and Linda to India, Uluru was in the centre. There were scrolls of Indian deity Shiva, a backdrop of Lillies Fresco Man because I'd been in Crete. That show had revolved around these three places we'd been to, in 1980, it was a visually exciting night! It was a creative time in Sydney in the 80s. I made it my life work to being different, instead of being insecure. As to my mother's advice "Follow your dreams and don't follow the mob."

Doing what we loved, we'd do these fashion shows once a year, one night only, 500 people. We were doing these shows with themes of where we had been and the places that inspired us. It would take a year to create––we just staged these incredible shows! It was a collaboration of creatives. They were fun times.

What sparked you to move to the Blue Mountains?

I grew up in Bondi and I used to dream of the sun and the beach in London in the 60's, and had only been once to the mountains. I had no understanding of bush. I came back with Michael from London in the 70's, often staying in Tuscany––Michael loved the idea of a country dream, romantic living in the mountains, in nature. So we used to visit Richard Neville up in the mountains and spend weekends up there. I loved the vintage feel of Katoomba coming from London. The architecture and details of Katoomba, reminded me of London. So on the tail end of Michael wanting a divine, artist country-side life, we found a 4-acre property through our friend Richard on Evans Lookout Road.

What does the Blue Mountains mean to you?

It's my spiritual home––when I look out onto the Grose Valley I feel a sense of timelessness, a dot in the world, in the wild. Grose Valley is still intact and I look out onto from my place, it is where my spirit can sit free, in contemplation. It's a privilege to be able to sit with this ancient beauty everyday, the earth spirits are alive. Being able to see and live in something world heritage National Park –– I never take it for granted.

How has the Blue Mountains shaped your work and influenced your creativity?

It has completely. Nature is my inspiration, the bush where I live is my inspiration. I paint the Waratahs, the flannel flowers. The purple mauve flowers that come with the Waratah, it's around you in the bush and the rich blue sky. There's something that responds to me when I look at a Waratah. We get the feelings that you are at one with nature. My complete passion is for the Waratah, its a passionate flower. Passion for love, for life, so many things and my work. She stands out like a beacon in the bush. She comes shooting up so high, over 3-4m after fires, the energy of the flowers shooting up after the fire. It's unbelievable!

“Loved the vintage feel of Katoomba coming from London.”