Henrietta ‘Rita’ Mackennal (1885–1959) was a fashion writer and illustrator. Born in Paris, she was the daughter of the Australian sculptor Bertram Mackennal (1863–1931) and fellow artist Agnes Spooner. As a child Rita Mackennal was surrounded by her parent’s artistic circle of friends and often visited Sara Bernhardt, the French actress, who was a particularly close friend of the family. Bernhardt clearly had a great affection for the young Mackennal as in 1897 she commissioned Walter Spindler (1878–1940) to paint her portrait.

Before marrying in 1913 she worked as a fashion illustrator for Vogue, the Daily Express, and other London newspapers. She continued to work in the fashion industry for several years until her children were born in 1918 and 1923. During the First World War, Mackennal wrote and illustrated a weekly article for the Mirror entitled ‘Fashion Gossip from London’. The articles are written as letters from the London-based Rita to Betty – presumably an imagined friend living in out of town – and provide a fascinating and witty account of fashion in wartime London.