Family ties

Fabric forms the framework of this father-daughter firm as it celebrates artisans and traditional techniques while nurturing the Australian design industry.

- Words ELIZA O'HARE

“THINK ABOUT THE BEST DESIGNERS in Australia – they're our best customers,” says Peter Fitzgibbon, who's the owner of Sydney-based The Textile Company.

He's talking about big names such as David Hicks, Greg Natale, Thomas Hamel, Alexandra Kidd, Kate Nixon, Adelaide Bragg and more, who visit his showroom to mine its depth of fabric and textiles. With walls occupied by an irresistibly tactile catalogue of printed fabrics, meticulously filed according to their colour base, and a library of delicate grasscloth, wall coverings and wall murals, it's clear this studio was built with serious product expertise.

Yet four decades ago, when Peter Fitzgibbon's mum dropped the 19-year-old to his first job interview at an Auckland fabric warehouse, there was no inkling of his passion for textiles. He just needed a job. He started out on the floor measuring drops and cutting fabric, then hit the road in sales and started buying before moving to Sydney. The European buying trips were where he forged important supplier relationships with the likes of Phillip Jeffries, James Malone and Camengo, which the business is founded on today.