My Life, My Look

Carla Zampatti is an enduring Australian fashion icon. In 2015, in a remarkable feat of longevity, she celebrated the 50th anniversary of her fashion house in Australia. And despite the fact that so many of us have grown up with Carla Zampatti - loving, coveting and wearing her elegant, beautiful designs - very few of us know the private woman behind the brand. And yet it is a compelling, fascinating and ultimately moving story of one woman's determination, ambition, resilience and dreams.

Carla was only five when her mother took her to visit the dressmaker in her local small town in Lombardy, Italy. It was then, in a sudden flash of inspiration, that she knew she would become a fashion designer. She was a feisty little girl who had two older brothers - she would run after them up the mountains on their adventures, while they called to her, 'Dai, Carla, e possible farlo,' come on Carla, you can do it! And she never lost that spirit of determination, even when, as an eight-year-old with no English, her family moved across the world to a tiny speck of a town in Western Australia, a place where her dreams of becoming a designer seemed almost out of reach...

A household name, a true Australian legend, and an inspiring woman - this is Carla Zampatti, and this is her story.

‘It was Zampatti's enormous drive, flair and independence of mind that enabled her to become one of Australia's top fashion designers. In a market saturated with mediocre celebrity autobiographies, it's refreshing to find one that is well-written and down to earth' Sydney Morning Herald

'Carla's story is one of drive and determination, and well worth reading' Brisbane News

'From Australia's fashion iconoclast, you won't be able to put this tale of ambition down' Cosmopolitan