Rita Findlay b. 1 January 1893

  • Designer
Findlay began her career as a commercial artist, later becoming advertising manager for the celebrated George's department store, Melbourne. She was an influential figure in the city's interior design industry and drew designers to the store with shrewd buying, advertising and promotion.
Tags: Commercial artist, George's Department Sstore
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Reta Findlay (1893-1954)

Findlay was a buyer as well as a leader for George’s department store where a number of Melbourne’s interior designers trained including William and Keera Le Lievre and Bryce Wilson. “[…] Educated at Fort Street Model School, Reta had a passion for the theatre, spent considerable time painting and sketching, read widely in her father’s extensive library and designed clothes…. […] Reta began work as a commercial artist for a colour-printing and advertising firm, and rapidly rose to publicity manager.

In 1937 she became advertising manager for Georges Ltd, a department store in Collins Street. That year she travelled to Europe to attend fashion showings in London and Paris, and to find new ideas and merchandise. […] The public face of Georges also changed under her direction. The store’s logo was redesigned by the sculptor Clifford Last; window displays became elegantly sparse and dramatic […] (Findlay is described by William and Keera Le Lievre as one of Georges’s buyers “for all the furniture group, the arts…, [She] was colossal. She was the leader and she was really with it.”)

When, in January 1946, Findlay was appointed associate-director of Georges, she was one of the few female board members of an Australian public company. During her travels through Europe and the U.S.A. that year, Georges’ advertisements featured her 'Air Mail Diary’ on a range of topics, including fashion and culture. […]In 1949 she acted as general manager of Georges and in September 1950 was made a full director. […]”

Roger Leong, “Findlay, Reta Mildred (1893 – 1954)”, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 14, Melbourne University Press, 1996, pp 165-166.

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Date written:
2018
Last updated:
2018

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Date modified Aug. 10, 2021, 10:01 a.m. Sept. 27, 2018, 8:13 p.m.
References [<ExternalResource: Roger Leong, “Findlay, Reta Mildred (1893 – 1954)”, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 14, Melbourne University Press, 1996, pp 165-166.>, <ExternalResource: Nanette Carter & Robyn Oswald-Jacobs. Frances Burke, Designer of Modern Textiles. Melbourne Univ. Press, 2021, p.59>] [<ExternalResource: Roger Leong, “Findlay, Reta Mildred (1893 – 1954)”, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 14, Melbourne University Press, 1996, pp 165-166.>]