Lisa Ho

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Born in Albury, on the New South Wales and Victorian border, Lisa Ho had a very happy childhood and enjoyed growing up in rural Australia where she never felt racial tension and her Chinese-English heritage was never an issue that troubled her.

She began sewing at age four inspired by her grandmother, a tailor, whom Ho says she 'probably drove mad'. Ho made patterns out of newspaper and by age 10 had a sewing machine at the end of the kitchen table 'that nobody was allowed to move,' which she used every day to make things for herself and four sisters. She later trained in fashion design at East Sydney Technical College, graduating in 1981 and spent a year working for another company, which she 'hated', before going out on her own.

Like many of Australia’s fashion designers, fresh out of college in 1982, Lisa Ho started her career at the Paddington markets with her designs that quickly brought her retail and media attention and began the Lisa Ho brand.

The Lisa Ho brand has continued to build into one of the most recognised brands in Australia and has a strong celebrity following with the signature pieces being worn by Delta Goodrem, Bec Cartwright, Sarah Wynter, Elle Macpherson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Olivia Newton-John and Jennifer Lopez. Her international reputation was first recognized during the Sydney 2000 opening ceremony, which featured a special Lisa Ho designed segment celebrating her role in Australian fashion. Lisa was also asked to design the gown worn by Olivia Newton-John for her performance to welcome the Olympic athletes. Ho now employs 70 staff, which doesn't include outworkers, who man 11 signature stores and head office. Her label is also stocked in more than 250 boutiques worldwide, and she is seriously thinking about opening a store in Los Angeles.