Designer Who Dressed Diana Recovers Lost Patterns After 30 Years

When Liz Newman walked into an Adelaide Hills gallery last month, she saw dozens of jumpers made from patterns she thought were gone forever.

The quirky, colorful designs featuring kangaroos, koalas, and "Australian pizza with the lot" made her a global sensation in the 1980s. At just 20 years old, Newman launched a knitwear label that eventually dressed Princess Diana, Olivia Newton-John, and ice-skating champions Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean.

Her big break came when TV host Jacki MacDonald wore Newman's jumpers on Hey Hey It's Saturday. Every appearance jammed the Channel Nine switchboard with callers desperate to buy them.

By the mid-1980s, Newman was running boutiques across Australia and supplying 150 stores in the United States. She employed over 500 hand knitters across rural Australia to create the intricate intarsia designs. When Crocodile Dundee hit American cinemas, her Australiana jumpers became must-have items.

"All the stars seemed to align, and it just took off," Newman said.

Then everything crashed. The collapse of the State Bank of South Australia in the mid-1990s took her business down with it. "The state bank was going under, and they took me with them," she said.

Worse was yet to come. In 2011, doctors discovered an orange-sized brain tumor. They told Newman she had three months to live if she didn't operate immediately. She survived but spent 14 months in brain injury rehab learning basic tasks again.

"Even making a cup of coffee was a challenge," she said. At rock bottom, Newman lived in public housing on disability pension while her vintage jumpers sold online for $1,000 each. She'd kept only six.

The Bright Side

A social media post changed everything. Vintage collector Amanda Blair had gifted a Newman jumper to podcaster Monique Bowley, who posted it on Instagram. When Newman commented, Blair became determined to find the missing patterns.

"I think I've watched CSI far too many times," Blair laughed. "I'm like, 'I am going to find those patterns for her.' And I did."

Facebook Marketplace led Blair to an elderly couple who had bought Newman's business after the bank collapse. All 300 original patterns were stored in their cellar in Birdsville, waiting.

Blair organized a surprise exhibition at the 2026 South Australian Living Artists Festival, displaying both vintage originals and new jumpers knitted from the recovered patterns. Newman had no idea until she walked through the door.

"I'm absolutely amazed, a bit overwhelmed, and just awe-struck," Newman said, surrounded by her creations after three decades.

The designer who once dressed royalty and survived against impossible odds now has her legacy back.