The Tessuti Fabrics story starts in 1992 when founder Colette Guanta made an impulse decision to help her mum Silva’s then faltering fashion label. She saw rolls and rolls of quality fabrics sitting unused and decided to try and generate some much-needed revenue for the business. Collecting as many fabrics as she could squeeze into her hatchback, she drove across Sydney and set up a couple of trestle tables in a vacant store. The response was so overwhelming that by lunchtime the fabrics had sold out and customers were asking for more. The first Tessuti store opened in the northern Sydney suburb of Chatswood. At that time, the majority of Australian fashion labels were manufacturing locally and the store exclusively stocked designer ends purchased from Sydney-based fashion labels.