Driza-Bone Advertisement
Stephen Bennett remains a legendary figure in the minds of those who lived through the early years of Country Road’s phenomenal success in the 70’s through to the mid 90’s. Stephen, with a $20,000 loan from his father-in-law set up a shirt company in 1974, a shop in Hawthorn, and rewrote the style book, bringing wearable, affordable good taste quality men’s and women’s wear to a generation that were exhausted by the 60’s and wanting to come down to earth.
Stephen Bennett
There’s been lot of water under the bridge since then and Stephen is now responsible for the rebirth of another great Australian label, Driza-Bone, an iconic Henry Lawson kind of a brand in the true laconic Australian genre. Stephen has redesigned the classic Driza-Bone collection without trying to over-contemporise it but rather bring back the values of this famous Queensland product and at the same time introduce, as he did with the original Country Road, the wearable, ‘old friends’ character of the garments.
As with all great names, the Driza-Bone story is a simple one. 112 years ago, a sailor E. Le Roy and his good mate, Thomas Pearson started a brave enterprise making waterproof long oilskin coats in Sydney in 1898 by recycling canvas sails and designed for sailors plying the trade routes of the cold, treacherous roaring 40’s. Some of these sailors settled in Australia and Le Roy’s coats became very popular with rural workers A new oiling process was developed so that the coat wouldn’t go hard and crack in the harsh dry conditions of the Australian bush. These refinements resulted in a range of practical hardwearing garments which have become increasingly identified as part of an Australian national costume.
John Joiner, property manager of ‘Muttama’
Worldwide fashion icon or practical necessity? John Joiner was property manager of the ‘Muttama’ station near Coonamble, NSW. He bought his Driza-Bone coat in the early 1950s and wore it all his working life, mustering on horseback and later by motor bike. According to John the coat probably saved his and his son’s life when he threw it over the face of a charging bull. (photograph Powerhouse Museum, Sydney)
