Today’s Inspiration: Thea Porter
‘Thea’s are the only clothes I never throw away.’ - Joan Collins
During the 1970’s kaftans from Turkey and Afghanistan became immensely popular in the west, thanks to, at least in part, Thea Porter. In 1964 Porter moved to London
“Half-French, half-English” Porter was born in 1927 in Jerusalem, was raised in Damascus. Dad was an Arabist theologian, mom was a French missionary. She began her career working in interior design, for Elizabeth Eaton. Inspired by (and obsessed with) the luxurious fabrics which surrounded her youth, Porter began to create her own versions of chazara jackets, sirwal skirts, kaftans, abayas, Berber djellaba and African dashiki. She used the best fabrics; vintage 1930s French voiles, Ottoman velvets, Swiss chiffons, & brocades; as well as various on Indian handprints and traditional Islamic embroidery. Her first wholesale client as a fashion designer was Henri Bendel, in 1968.
By the 1970’s Porter had basically created, or at least elevated, the concept of bohemian chic. She dressed some of the most fashionable women in the world including Elizabeth Taylor, Faye Dunaway, Joan Collins, Barbra Streisand, Lauren Bacall, Talitha Getty, Bianca Jagger, Princess Margaret, Edna O'Brien, & Sharon Tate. Porter’s work was sold at “Magnin in San Francisco and Giorgio of Beverly Hills.” Hardy Amies once described a costume she made for Begum Aga Khan as “pre-guillotine.”
Porter was a designer without much business acumen- though her clothing sold exceptionally well (there were years when Giorgio BH sold about $300,000/year in just Thea Porter). She was constantly opening one business, closing another. There was a whole string of studios, shops & boutiques that opened briefly and closed with varying degrees of personal devastation.
In 1994 Porter was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, moved to a nursing home in Kensington. She died in July of 2000 at the age of 72.
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