History

Catherine Colubriale had a dream from a very young age; that she wanted to make beautiful dresses for women all over the world and one day run her own business. Starting from her bedroom, Catherine made dresses and did alterations for the local neighbours and friends of the family. By the age of 18, Catherine started her own label called "R-Kaz" and accumulated 5 local retail buyers by the age of 20. When Catherine was 21 she opened up her first store in Kingsgrove. Catherine said "I took a big leap into the unknown, but I managed to survive because I was determined to succeed and I was passionate about my work".

After 5 years at Kingsgrove Catherine took a short break then moved to another studio in Campsie. Catherine started to build trust with customers who would then recommend her to friends and so her business grew mainly by word of mouth. Most of her customers are brides, bridesmaids, mothers of the brides and women who wanted a unique dress to wear to a special occasion. Catherine designs for weddings, engagements, cocktail parties, the spring carnivals, the Logies, Christmas parties, balls, formal functions, corporate functions, promotions, opening nights and launches, charity events and exhibitions.

In 1997 Catherine started designing for major events like the "Australian Couture Ball", where the aim was to raise money for the Heart Foundation. The theme for the evening was "Culture". Each designer held a fashion parade related to the culture of their choice. Catherine's inspiration was India and she used beautiful intricate fabrics with traditional sari designs imported from India. After the Ball, Channel 9 interviewed Catherine, filming her Campsie studio for the "Entertainment Tonight" program with Richard Wilkins and Marie Patane. This was the start of working with media personalities like Jo Casamento from "Beauty and the Beast" and Shelley Horton, who works for the Sun Herald. Catherine went on to make Jo, Marie and Shelley their wedding gowns.

After a worldwide travel adventure, exploring the best designs in the world, Catherine realised she had something unique to offer the Australian market. She puts her own ideas and feelings into her designs and works intuitively to make her customers feel totally satisfied with the result. After returning from overseas, Catherine re-located her business to Dulwich Hill in a heritage-style building in 2005, where she continued to create beautiful couturier gowns. Catherine has been at the Dulwich Hill store for over 4 years now and it has been very successful. "The reward you get when you make women feel so wonderful for that special day is very satisfying... especially when they call you to thank you for a job well done".