Ruta Anna "Ruth" Tarvydas (c. 1947 – 16 May 2014) was an Australian
fashion designer. Born in Germany to
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
n parents, her family emigrated to
Perth, Western Australia, when Tarvydas was two years old. She opened her first boutique at the age of 19, with her brother, and shortly after established her first label. In 1983, Taryvdas became the first Australian designer to export clothing overseas. By the 2000s, she had designs being sold in 170 outlets across 16 countries, with a number of celebrity clients, both in Australia and overseas. A flagship store in
King Street, Perth
King Street is located in the central business district (CBD) of Perth, Western Australia. The street has a very European feel with its early 20th century, low-rise architecture and restored facades.
History
The street was originally called Kin ...
, was opened in 2009, but closed three years later with Tarvydas in heavy debt. A new store was opened in
Claremont Claremont may refer to:
Places Australia
*Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland
* Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart
* Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth
** Claremont Football Club, West Australian Footba ...
in 2012, and was featured with Tarvydas in a 2013
ABC1 documentary. Tarvydas was to debut at
Paris Fashion Week in 2014, but she died two months before the event.
Early life
Ruth Tarvydas was born to
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
n parents, Martynas and Ursula Tarvydas in
Kempten, Germany.
[ In 1949, when Ruth was around two years old, her family emigrated from post-war Germany to Australia, where they settled in ]Tuart Hill, Western Australia
Tuart Hill is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
Tuart Hill is named after the tuart tree that once grew extensively throughout the area, especially around Dog Swamp. In 1914 the suburb name of Grenville was proposed as a name for the sub ...
.[
]
Fashion design
Early career
Before entering fashion design, Tarvydas studied nursing and briefly worked as a secretary for a lawyer and an eye specialist.[Georgina Safe (16 September 2009)]
"Queen of the cut-out"
– ''The Australian''. Retrieved 30 October 2014. Aged 19, Tarvydas and her brother Harvey opened a small boutique on Hay Street, Perth, making her possibly Australia's youngest boutique owner at the time. Her first label, 'Ruta', was established in 1968. She was described as 'the designer who brought boho chic
Boho-chic is a style of fashion drawing on various bohemian and hippie influences, which, at its height in late 2005 was associated particularly with actress Sienna Miller, model Kate Moss in the United Kingdom and actress/businesswoman Mary-Ka ...
to 1960s Perth.'
By 1976, Tarvydas was enjoying success as an ambitious fashion designer, selling her audacious designs from an establishment on Murray Street, Perth
Murray Street is one of four main east-west roads within the Perth central business district (CBD).
History
The street, the central portion of which has become a pedestrian mall, was named after Sir George Murray, Secretary of State for War ...
. Tarvydas became the first Australian fashion label to export overseas, stocking its designs in Selfridges, London, in 1983. She was also carried by New York's Saks Fifth Avenue around the same time, but during the economic downturn of the late 1980s was forced to close her Australian retail stores.
2000s onward
In addition to Australian celebrities such as Delta Goodrem
Delta Lea Goodrem AM (born November 9, 1984) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Goodrem signed to Sony Music at the age of 15. Her debut album, '' Innocent Eyes'' (2003), topped the ARIA Albums Chart for 29 non-consecutive week ...
, Sonia Kruger, and the former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins
Jennifer Hawkins (born 22 December 1983) is an Australian model, television presenter and beauty queen best known for being crowned Miss Universe Australia and later the same year Miss Universe 2004. She was the host of ''Australia's Next Top ...
, Tarvydas counted Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...
, Leona Lewis, Kim Kardashian, and Kimberly Stewart among her clients.[ However, her best known client was probably Rebecca Twigley, for whom Tarvydas designed a notorious red dress in 2004.][ When Twigley wore the dress to the ]2004 Brownlow Medal
The 2004 Brownlow Medal was the 77th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home-and-away season. Chris Judd of the West Coast Eagles won the medal by polling th ...
ceremony (which was won by her then boyfriend and future husband, Chris Judd), she attracted a great deal of media attention. On News.com.au
news.com.au is an Australian website owned by News Corp Australia. It had 9.6 million unique readers in April 2019 and covers national and international news, lifestyle, travel, entertainment, technology, finance, and sport.
Staff
The organiza ...
Twigley's appearance eclipsed coverage for Jennifer Hawkins who was crowned Miss Universe 2004 at the same time, and broke previous records for a single news day. The dress continued receiving ongoing coverage, and, worn by another model, was the final gown in the Tarvydas tribute show at the Perth Fashion Festival. Rebecca Judd opened the tribute show wearing another Tarvydas dress that had been designed for her to wear in a Paco Rabanne
Francisco Rabaneda Cuervo (born 18 February 1934), more commonly known under the pseudonym of Paco Rabanne (; ), is a Spanish fashion designer who became known as an ''enfant terrible'' of the 1960s French fashion world.
Early life and educati ...
perfume advertisement in 2010.[
By 2008, Tarvydas had designs sold in 16 countries around the world, exporting designs to over 170 outlets.][ That year, a Tarvydas retrospective was held in the museum of the ]Curtin University
Curtin University, formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, ...
.[ The following year, she designed the dress that Rachael Finch, Miss Universe Australia 2009, wore as Australia's "national costume" at the Miss Universe 2009 pageant. Tarvydas opened a flagship boutique on ]King Street, Perth
King Street is located in the central business district (CBD) of Perth, Western Australia. The street has a very European feel with its early 20th century, low-rise architecture and restored facades.
History
The street was originally called Kin ...
, in July 2009, but the store was forced to close in October 2012 due to high rental costs. It was replaced by a Chanel
Chanel ( , ) is a French high-end luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. Chanel specializes in women's ready-to-wear, luxury goods, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear. Chanel is ...
boutique.
By the early 2010s, Tarvydas' business found itself increasingly in financial difficulties, entering administration in 2012, at the time the King Street boutique closed.[ However, in December 2012, supported by businessman John Bond, Tarvydas opened a new shop in ]Claremont Claremont may refer to:
Places Australia
*Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland
* Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart
* Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth
** Claremont Football Club, West Australian Footba ...
.[ The following year, Ruth Tarvydas and her business were one of the subjects of a six-part documentary on Perth entrepreneurs, ''Boomtown'', aired by ]ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to:
*ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or
*ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia
ABC Television or ABC ...
, which told the story of the company and its financial difficulties.
Death
On the morning of 16 May 2014, Tarvydas was found dead on the street outside her apartment, where she is believed to have fallen from a 14th-floor balcony in unsuspicious circumstances.[ She had reportedly failed to meet a deadline the preceding day for repayment of a $100,000 debt to ]ANZ Banking Group
The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. It is Australia's second-largest bank by assets and fourth-largest bank by ma ...
.[ Tarvydas was to have made her Paris Fashion Week debut in July 2014."Tarvydas to debut in Paris"]
– ''The West Australian''. Retrieved 30 October 2014. Her funeral, at Karrakatta Cemetery, was open to the public, and attended by the Foreign Minister
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...
Julie Bishop
Julie Isabel Bishop (born 17 July 1956) is an Australian former politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2018 and deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 2007 to 2018. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Curtin ...
and by the Lord Mayor of Perth
__TOC__
The history of the City of Perth, a local government area of Western Australia is defined over three distinct periods:
*From 1829 to 1838 — controlled by the Governor of Western Australia
*From 1838 to 1858 — controlled by the ''Pe ...
, Lisa Scaffidi
Lisa-Michelle Scaffidi (; born 12 February 1960) is a former Lord Mayor of Perth, Western Australia. The first female Lord Mayor of Perth, Scaffidi became mayor following the October 2007 council elections, after the retirement of her predeces ...
.[
]
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarvydas, Ruth
1947 births
2014 deaths
Australian fashion designers
Australian women fashion designers
Australian people of Lithuanian descent
German emigrants to Australia
People from Perth, Western Australia
Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery
Suicides by jumping in Australia
Suicides in Western Australia
2014 suicides