George Gross and Harry Watt's form famous fashion from fun for 40 years in Gilbert Street, Adelaide, warehouse
George Gross and Harry Watt (left) won 11 national fashion industry awards and were inducted into the Australian hall of fame.
Image courtesy Cocktail Revolution
Life partners of more than 50 years, George Gross and Harry Watt built their global fashion empire George Gross and Harry Who, based at a factory in Gilbert Street in Adelaide city’s southeast.
Gross, already working in the Sydney, fashion industry, met Watt, a former naval officer then in the travel industry, at Adelaide’s South Australian Hotel in the late 1960s. George Gross and Harry Who, with George’s twin sister as partner, began with a single store called Jap in Rundle Street, Adelaide, in 1973.
Their glamourous clothes were an instant hit and six months later they opened another store in Sydney. Soon the brand was stocked across the world including Hong Kong, London, Hawaii, Dallas, New York and Los Angeles. The designer couple also represented Australia at the bicentennial wool collection fashion event at Sydney Opera House, and designed Qantas uniforms in the 1990s.
George and Harry forged friendships with high-profile customers including Kerri-Anne Kennerley, Maggie Tabberer, Joan Collins and 1980s Adelaide TV personality Adriana Xenides. Princess Diana bought six of their outfits from Harrods in London to wear during a visit to South Africa. Gross and Watt became legendary for their fun lunches and occasions such as Harry Watt’s 60th birthday when Adelaide city strip joint Checkmates was converted to Harry’s Bar.
The duo’s Adelaide seasonal parades attracted a who’s who and benefitted charity. The parades featured their “dream girls” models including Gordana Kleut, Melinda Parent, Elizabeth Philippou, Kathy Ahamer, Fran Ennis, Dina Matters, Sara Abel Smith and Penny Johnson.
Big name Australian designers Trent Nathan, Prue Acton and Carla Zampatti were among fans of the Gross and Watt who won 11 national fashion industry awards. George Gross was inducted into the industry’s hall of fame and in 2017 George, Harry and Kathy Gross were appointed members of the Order of Australia. They had 10 concept stores in David Jones around Australia and six stand-alone boutiques when they retired in 2014.