In the 80s, when Paul Hogan was putting shrimp on the barbie, Alan Bond was our Cup hero and we all proudly came from the land “Down Under”, knitwear was having a moment in the sun. Spearheaded by SA’s own Liz Newman, jumpers were being worn all over the globe by the famous and not so, covered in iconic “Aussie” images of koalas, kangaroos, Uluru, cockies, wattle and wombats, often in 3D.

These garments were hand-knitted by South Australian women who would receive a pattern and a pack of wool in the mail enabling them to knit at home. Many of these original knitters are still with us and remember fondly the bright colours and patterns and the hours of toil put into a single jumper. These jumpers were worn by Dame Edna Everage, Rhonda Burchmore, Garry McDonald, Jane Torvil and Christopher Dean, Jackie McDonald on Hey Hey It’s Saturday, the cast of Sale of the Century and more recently Kath Day-Knight and Kel Knight on Kath and Kim.

The original patterns were lost to Liz and for years she wondered where they went. Discovered in a basement in Birdwood after a prolonged search by knitwear collector and part-time sleuth Amanda Blair they have been lovingly curated by Barbara Reinfeld and Kerry Hill from Dulcie's Vintage and the Handknitters Guild of SA, and expanded into an exhibition of hand knitted jumpers. Many of the garments have been knitted to the original patterns but some have been tweaked to create a more modern twist. Come revisit the glorious 80s in all its colour and splendour and give praise to the remarkable fashion icon Liz Newman.