Growing up in Sydney, NSW, Sidney Sernack and his older brother Max started their fashion career sorting sequins and beads for their mother’s home dressing making business.
Following in the footsteps of his father and older brother, 16 year old Sidney went to work at David Jones department store until both brothers enlisted for army service. After the war Max set up a ‘shirts to order’ business and in 1951 the brothers started Sidney Sernack Pty Ltd making ladies outerwear.
Their first dress, a copy of one that belonged to Sidney’s wife, was a great success and the business expanded. The brothers developed the all-weather Rain’N Shine coat, and other fashion stories with materials by Bruck Mills and Standard Knitting Mills. In the 1960s they started a fashion agency and their business continued to grow until the 1970s when, like much of the clothing industry, they fell victim to the Whitlam government’s tariff policy.
- Writers:
-
Jenni Hagedorn
- Date written:
- 2012
- Last updated:
- 2013
