Legendary Australian fashion designer Carla Zampatti dies aged 78 a week after being knocked unconscious in horror fall down stairs at opera opening night in Sydney
Australian fashion designer Carla Zampatti died on Saturday.
Carla, who was 78, passed away after falling down the stairs while attending the opening night of the La Traviata opera on Sydney Harbour last week.
She was reportedly knocked unconscious after falling on the bottom steps of the staircase and was then rushed to hospital immediately.
Tragedy: Australian fashion designer Carla Zampatti died on Saturday, one week after being knocked unconscious after falling down the stairs at the opera
According to the Daily Telegraph, she went into a coma after the fall and never woke up.
Carla’s death was confirmed via a statement on her official Instagram account on Saturday.
‘It’s with great sadness that we announce the death of fashion icon Carla Zampatti AC today,’ they wrote.
Farewell: Carla, who was 78, passed away after falling down the stairs while attending the opening night of the La Traviata opera on Sydney Harbour last week (pictured)
‘Carla is Australia’s most successful and enduring fashion designer, launching her eponymous label in 1965,’ it continued.
‘Carla has long been celebrated for making Australian women feel confident and elegant through her exceptional design, tailoring and understanding of the modern woman.
‘A champion of Australian women and a multicultural success story, she continued to thrive as a businesswoman through enormous radical and social change, designing clothes for women fighting for liberation through the women’s rights movement in the 1960s to empowering women today in leadership, the workplace, in their home and at major life events.’
They finished: ‘The family invite you to share your memories on the Carla Zampatti condolence page through the link in bio.’
Heartbreaking: The designer went into a coma after the fall and never woke up
Statement: Carla’s death was confirmed via a statement on her official Instagram account on Saturday
Her family downplayed the designer’s fall earlier this week, stating that Carla was in hospital for ‘observation’ following the accident.
A family spokesperson for Ms Zampatti told Daily Mail Australia on Monday: ‘Carla Zampatti had a fall at the Opera on Sydney Harbour on Friday night and is currently in hospital for observation.
‘Carla is very grateful for the support from medically trained members of the audience who assisted and for the excellent care from the team at St Vincent’s Hospital.’
Opera Australia chief executive Rory Jeffes told The Sydney Morning Herald that staff looked after Ms Zampatti until an ambulance arrived on the scene.
‘My understanding is that they just cared for her, she appeared to be in and out of consciousness and therefore they just made sure she was comfortable until the ambulance arrived,’ he said.
‘Carla is Australia’s most successful and enduring fashion designer, launching her eponymous label in 1965,’ read a statement following her death