EXPRESS DELIVERY

LOCAL designer Pip Earl has proved you can do business in the most unexpected places.

The businesswoman behind label Pipsilk was visiting the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne when a woman approached to compliment her on the kaftan top she was wearing, one of her own designs.

Luckily enough Earl was wearing another shirt under the kaftan so was able to strike up a deal and sell it there and then. Earl was in Melbourne for a runway show with Adevee, an online fashion platform featuring clothes for curvy and “in- between” size women.

“I saw that the Dior show was on and I liked how that top looked on the model, so I thought ‘ I’m going to wear it myself’,” she said. “The woman came up to me and said, ‘ I love your top,’ and I told her I was doing a runway show down there and that it was one of my own.

“It was a bit cold so I happened to have something underneath ... so I sold her the shirt off my back.”

Earl is a nurse at Townsville’s Mater Hospital but has been gathering a steady following for her painted silk designs. The kaftan tops are one of the most recent additions to the label. “I’m listening to the market,” she said. “A lot of women want something that covers their arms, something loose fitting.”

Her clothing is available at Textile Collective by Emerging Designers in Castletown.