Elissa Coleman born in Perth, Western Australia. Studied at Curtin University, W.A., a bachelor of art and design, graduated in 1993. Elissa has been very involved in the family retail interior and homewares business from a young age. She moved to Sydney in 1994 to work for Australian Style magazine and Vogue Australia.

Elissa opened her first retail store, Empire Homewares in Sydney, Oxford St, Paddington in 1996. After five very successful years Elissa wanted to move her creative talents into fashion as well as continue to embrace her passion for interiors and moved to New York. Here Elissa worked as an assistant stylist with many well established retailers such as Bergdorf Goodman and Jo Malone.

Moving between New York and Bali, Elissa launched her first collection in New York in 2002, selling to retailers such as Net- a- porter, Shopbop, Intermix and Paul and Joe. The brand is now sold in more then fifty stores internationally.

Elissa style is a combination of resort wear and summer pieces with a graphic, bold, feminine, ethnic feel, which stems from her own wardrobe which is a mixture of designer and vintage pieces as well as inspiration from the love of nature, art, film, music and travel.
A lot of her style is based on her love of the casual elegance of the 60’s and 70’s. As she spends a part of the year in Rome with her husband’s family, she has found great inspiration from places such as Capri and Florence.

The feminine and free-flowing, body conscious shapes translate seamlessly into weightless silk and cotton dresses, resort style sportswear and evening pieces. All handmade with many details such as hand painting individual dresses.

Elissa will offer a range of clothes that flatter women of many ages and body types that has a casual yet glamorous feel but can be worn on and off the beach, easy yet elegant.

The first Elissa Coleman boutique will be opened in Cottesloe, Perth this Summer 2010 and will be a combination of fashion, accessories and interiors. Elissa will release eight product categories, offering dresses, skirts, tops, swimwear, jewellery, bags, kidswear, as well as interior objects and furniture. Elissa will also be including in her collection a range of clothing for the winter months including luxurious knits, leather and fur. This collection will follow on the desire to design versatile pieces, which are accessible but comfortable and glamorous at the same time. The store will always carry a summer collection so there is a little bit of summer all year around for people travelling to warmer destinations.

Elissa is now living in Perth, W.A. with her family continuing to travel between Europe, Asia and the US.