my country childhood
THERE’S SOMETHING ROMANTIC about the idea of an Australian country market, and the siren call of a Sunday drive towards a cluster of miscellaneous stalls. Megan Park, internationally renowned fashion designer, has trawled famous flea markets all over the world, and even she isn’t immune. “There’s one I love in a tiny village called Kongwak, in the hills of Gippsland,” she says. “I’m always looking for pieces to add to my archives: beautiful crocheted blankets, needlepoint, doilies — things that were obviously special, and would have taken months to knit or embroider.”
The love affair with textiles began when she was taught to sew by her mother, who managed the shop at the fabric mill in Ararat, Victoria. With three boys older than Megan, and a
