About De Lew

( Donna Lewis )

De Lew Designs arose from Donna’s participation in and successful completion of three years of nationally recognised Tertiary training within Millinery ( Headwear ) at TAFE NSW, Riverina Institute, Wagga Wagga Campus.  During Donna’s training she was encouraged to enter her Millinery into numerous competitions and achieved much success, which in turn, due to word of mouth, began the demand for Donnas Millinery pieces for various race meetings and special events.  With the encouragement of her TAFE teacher and family, Donna registered De Lew Designs Australia as a business on the 23^rd  February 2004.

As demand for De Lew Designs grew the need to source Millinery Supplies was not always an easy task.  There were three major Millinery suppliers within Australia, one based in Sydney  the other based in Melbourne and one in QLD.  Due to Wagga Wagga’s geographical isolation, access to such supplies proved to be quite expensive requiring overnight trips to personally visit suppliers as no suppliers at this stage had a website.  Dealings over the phone to order supplies proved unsatisfactory due to difficulty-choosing colours etc,  fellow milliners were having to make trips to the city to access supplies as well which is about a 5hr drive.

It was obvious that rural Australia required a Millinery Supplier also.  Two years of intensive worldwide researching, resourcing and liaising resulted in De Lew Designs Australia offering not only affordable handmade Millinery but also affordable and accessible Millinery Supplies providing an alternative, for, at that stage, regional NSW milliners.  Every effort was made to source Australian products however the majority of our supplies must be imported.  De Lew Designs now imports and maintains solid business relationships with many manufacturers worldwide.  

To minimise the frustrations associated with ordering supplies, De Lew Designs (Donna) developed an e-commerce website (with the help of a programme called os-commerce) which sells their Millinery and Millinery Supplies online.  All products are accompanied with a description and photograph so that customers know exactly what they are getting when they place an order.  De Lew Designs Australia goes a step further to please their customers and also offers custom dying of many of their products and go out of their way to source supplies not currently offered on the website.  De Lew Designs happily refers customers to other suppliers / contacts if they are not able to assist the customer for some reason.

Attention to detail, (as evidenced by the hand blocking and meticulous hand stitching by Donna of all De Lew Designs Millinery pieces.), exceptional customer service, dedication to the craft of Millinery, enthusiasm, passion and a genuine love for creativity is what has contributed to the rapid growth of De Lew Designs Australia.

De Lew Designs Australia now ships Millinery and Millinery supplies all over the world and to every state and Territory within Australia.

De Lew Designs ( Donna Lewis ) have won numerous awards being:

2003 Vision ~ Winner ~ High Fashion Award

2003 Vision ~ Winner ~ Race Wear Award

2004 Vision ~ Winner ~ Bridal Headwear Award

2004 Vision ~ Winner ~ Fashion Daywear Award

2004 Vision ~ Runner up ~ Fascinator Award

2005 Roseleigh Manor Millinery Luncheon ~ Millinery Award

2006 Roseleigh Manor Millinery Luncheon MC by Waltraud Reiner ~ Millinery Award

2006 Prestigious Wagga Wagga Gold Cup ~ WINNER ~ Millinery Award

2006 Wagga Wagga Chamber of Commerce & Industry ~ Winner of Outstanding Business Award

Like most Milliners it is difficult to be a fulltime Milliner particularly with our current economic climate and difficulties such as the Equine Flu.  Many Milliners / millinery businesses found it a trying time and found themselves putting more time into their "day Job" ~ secretary, accountant, nursing, teaching, sales assistant etc........Like most milliners Donna "wears several hats !" so to speak.   Donna who is also a Registered Nurse leads a very hectic life, being a mother to three gorgeous daughters, a busy Milliner, a business women running De Lew Designs, a TAFE teacher teaching and coordinating Nursing Programmes at Riverina Institute, Wagga Wagga campus and, in her "spare time" assisting her daughters and husband run 'BRICOUMA' and compete in Endurance Riding events with their thirteen horses.

Donnas' motto clearly is:

love and enjoy life, learn all you can and live life to the fullest !

Be proud of the many hats you wear they tell of your lifes journey.