During the late 60's and 70's MEREDITH was the Australian distributor for most of Europe's leading Fashion Houses. This was an exciting era and Mary Lipshut, Meredith's founder and Fashion Director, decided to set aside items from each collection for the Meredith archives.

Sometimes, the decision to hold stock was due to factors outside Meredith's control, as was the case in 1973. When the French nuclear tests were conducted in the Pacific the Australian unions banned the importation of French products. An entire shipment from leading French designer Andre Courreges was refused entry to Melbourne and returned to France. By the time the bans were lifted the season had ended and the goods were unwanted. Today - 25 years later - ML Vintage still has many of these garments still in their original packaging!

It was in 1996 when ML Vintage re-located premises that the full extent of the collection became apparent. The collection was enormous and included garments and accessories from over 25 different designers including Gianni Versace (his own label, as well as Versace for Callaghan, Genny and Complice), Missoni, Courreges, Basile, Pucci, Roberta di Camerino, Walter Albini for Misterfox ..... and many more. But probably the most amazing aspect of the ML Vintage Collection is that the garments are all brand new, many with original hang-tags and protective wrapping.

Collectors from around the world are starting to realize that the ML Vintage Collection may yet prove to be one of the most important collections of 20th century designer fashion.