Jents, Beril

Fashion designer recognised as 'Australia's first queen of haute couture'. She specialised in evening and bridal wear and first learnt dressmaking by assisting her mother as a young girl, designing and sewing her first gown at age nine. By age 12, she entered the workforce and at 16, she opened a studio in Waverley and then in King's Cross in 1944. She dressed Sydney's socialites and even some of the Cross' most famous figures including Nellie Cameron. She also had international clients including actresses Elizabeth Taylor, Janet Gaynor and Vivien Leigh.