Queen Gee. The Australian designer with the right royal touch
Having dressed Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Australian designer Karen Gee has earned the right to compare herself with luxury labels such as Stella McCartney and Gabriela Hearst. Instead, Gee turns to fast food for inspiration.
“I’ve always related to something like Coca-Cola or Kentucky Fried Chicken,” Gee says proudly, as she prepares to launch her first ready-to-wear collection. “There are key ingredients to my dresses that people can copy, but they don’t know all the elements involved.”
Designer Karen Gee wearing a dress from her ready-to-wear collection at her Sydney home.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
Before 2018, few people knew about Gee, or her recipe for streamlined dresses offering sophistication without stuffiness. The former Mrs Australia Globe pageant winner had started her label four years earlier, with the assistance of one pattern maker and modern technology making up for no formal fashion training. “You can do a lot with Google,” she says.
Then along came Meghan, wearing Gee’s deceptively simple-looking white shift Blessed dress, on a visit to Australia immediately following the announcement of her first pregnancy.
Like Cinderella, Gee gatecrashed the fashion press, with the added attention crashing her website with orders for custom-made dresses with four-figure price tags.
Despite the Meghan-effect, which pushed international sales of Strathberry handbags and Outland jeans during her brief stint as a working royal, it has taken Gee six years to capitalise on the more affordable ready-to-wear collection launching on her website this weekend.
Meghan Markle in a Karen Gee dress at Admiralty House, 2018; Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s partner Jodie Haydon wearing Karen Gee with French First Lady Brigitte Macron.Credit: AP, Alex Ellinghausen
While working behind the scenes, dressing leading businesswomen such as Macquarie Group chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s partner Jodie Haydon for international visits and the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, the concise range has slowly taken shape.
“I think people just assume you click your fingers and you’ve got a fashion label,” Gee says.
“It hasn’t been a sprint. It has been a very slow marathon.”
The ready-to-wear collection offers versions of Gee’s most popular custom-dresses, using the same fabrics and hardware.
“After 10 years I’ve got this remarkable database of women, chief executives and well-known names that can afford the custom dresses,” Gee says. “Some women spend tens of thousands in one visit. But the ethos of the brand is that all women deserve to feel beautiful and special.”
“This is for women who have admired Jodie Haydon wearing Karen Gee and couldn’t afford a $2000 dress, but can buy a $700 version of the same quality.”
With her own factory in Sydney, and a team that reaches 17 people in peak periods, Gee has stopped searching Google. Following the launch of the ready-to-wear collection, which includes linen pieces along with Gee’s custom fitted fabric, a flagship store opens in March at Sydney’s QVB and scouting has begun for a Melbourne location.
International distribution is in the works. Just don’t expect runway shows of the Stella McCartney variety.
“Personally, I like to go under the radar in fashion. I don’t do this to compete with any other brand or label,” Gee says. “Fashion can be quite cut-throat. I’m a mother of five, who is proud to have grown up in Toowoomba and understands hard work. I’m more interested in supporting women.”
There are limits to Gee’s support. She refuses to gift dresses to celebrities and influencers.
“We’ve probably lost out on a few celebrities wearing my garments but I’m proud of the work we do. If you love someone’s work, you’ve got to pay them for their service and expertise.”
Meghan, Rebel Wilson, Real Housewife Bethenny Frankel and Haydon all dipped into their pockets for their Karen Gee dresses.
“You’re doing yourself an injustice if you give away stuff for free,” Gee says. “It’s basically saying your brand is worth nothing.”
“I think there’s something in me that just keeps pushing, and I work incredibly hard, but hard work pays off, right?”
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