Mira Vukovic

Mira Vukovic, the designer behind the label ‘Mad Cortes’, was born and raised in the city of Sarajevo where she studied Fine Arts and Design. Arriving in Australia in 1996, Mira pursued her passion for fashion design graduating from the Sydney Institute of Technology. Her label ‘Mad Cortes’ made its debut at the College Graduation show in 2000 and has enjoyed phenomenal success over the last five years. Mira was winner of the prestigious Tiffany’s New Designer Award in March 2004. Following the success of ‘En Amor’, Mad Cortes’ first individual show for MAFW in May of 2004, the label has picked up by prestigious UK store Liberty’s and LA’s American Rag. This year, Mad Cortes won the inaugural Best-Emerging Designer award at MAFW after showing their Spring Summer 05/06 collection ‘The Woods’.

Mira found inspiration for the name of her label from the childhood comic-book hero, Hugo Pratt’s Corto Maltese. The Gibraltar sailor begins his many adventures in smoky bars filled with seductive music and dancers and ends them by saving the day and winning the girl - and so began Mad Cortes, a playful and romantic notion that underpins Mira’s label.

Text and photo from: http://www.vogue.com.au/fashion_central/people/fashion_designers/mira_vukovic