BSC x FLORENCE BROADHURST

Collaborating with an Australian Icon.

By Black Sheep Cycling

March 8^th, 2020

A True Black Sheep.

Florence Broadhurst was one of a kind. A true Black Sheep. A woman ahead of her time and described by some as a brilliant liar and unashamed socialite. But above all, she is an icon of Australian design and one of the most prolific pattern designers of the 1960s and 70s. In collaboration with the Florence Broadhurst Library, we have brought to life some of her revered artworks that adorned walls throughout Australia and around the world. Her designs. And her personality can be best described as dramatic, clever, and beautifully unique.

'Her personality can be best described as dramatic, clever, and beautifully unique'.

Born in 1899 in a rural part of Queensland – the State which Black Sheep calls home – Florence was the victim of a violent murder aged 78. In between, she lived a series of colourful lives, changing names as often as she did hair colour, accents and history.

‘I’d always been told that I was born before my time. Oh, surely to God, the times can just catch up.’

– Florence Broadhurst

The Life & Legend.

Florence sung her way out of the cattle town in which she was born. Swapping Bundaberg (more famous for its rum) for the Far East in the 1920s, performing to the region’s colonial masses before going on to run a finishing school in Shanghai. In London, she became ‘Madame Pellier’, a French couturier who dressed the rich and famous. She moved back to Australia as an aristocratic English lady with a plum accent; an entrepreneur, society figurehead and landscape painter. The reality, however, was very different. She was single, broke and miserable. But she remained inspired.

‘My life is dedicated to the interpretation of beauty.’

– Florence Broadhurst

The Swinging Sixties.

Aged 60, Florence launched a high-end wallpaper studio in Sydney. In so doing she re-drew her past. Again. Her designs making their way into homes all over the world. Her archive grew to over 500 images ranging from tapestries to geometrics, florals to psychedelic. Her name and designs were iconic throughout the 1960s and 70s. Florence ended up a prolific socialite, as famous for her extraordinary personality, and many lives, as she was her creativity.

“Florence’s patterns are as exceptional as her life. Just as she was, they are ahead of the time. As inspiring and as relevant today as they were when they were created in the 1960s. To bring her creativity to life on dedicated female cycling kits is an honour. To collaborate with a woman (albeit posthumously) who evokes the spirit of our brand is a rare and gratifying opportunity.”

– John Polson. Black Sheep, Co-Founder.

The Legend Lives On.

Upon her tragic death, a brutal murder that was never solved, Florence disappeared. But forty years on she has become a global brand again. Her fascinating life recounted in award-winning biographies and documentaries. Her exquisite eye and amazing designs brought to life by collaborations with revered luxury and fashion brands such as Kate Spade, Zimmerman and now Black Sheep.