Sally Levison (1923 – 2006) was an innovative knitwear designer based in the island of Gozo, Malta. Levison began her career as a Buyer for retail outlets in the Isle of Wight and London in the early 1960s. Noticing that knitwear was a popular product for retail outlets at the time, Levison had the idea to reinterpret high fashion fabric looks as knitted or crocheted designs. As the looks she hoped to achieve were difficult to realise with the machinery then available, she developed ways to produce them by hand-knitting. After finding two business partners to help realise her ideas, Levison set up a small premises in Gozo in 1968. With the help of the Maltese government, by 1970 the business had moved into a factory on the island, employing 500-1000 knitters and crocheters.

Levison’s designs were initially sold from her showroom in Mortimer Street, London, in the late 1960s. They quickly gained international success and were sold to customers in France, Italy, Spain, Finland and the USA. In 1973, due to Levison’s ill health, the business was sold to knitwear designer Mary Farrin and became ‘Levison Originals by Mary Farrin’.

This waistcoat comes from one of Levison’s strongest ranges, her ‘Porridge Line’ (named after the oatmeal colour of the yarn). This range also introduced a progressive unisex look which proved very popular. One of the aims of Levison’s business was to allow women to build a co-ordinated look in their wardrobe. She was responsible for helping popularise co-ordinated and mix-and-match outfits, with designs fitting in with the contemporary vogue for hand-knitted, close-fitting clothes in the early 1970s. They were frequently featured in Vogue magazine and other publications. The waistcoat matches a pair of pedal-pushers in the V&A collection, also designed by Levison (T.347-1989).

This waistcoat top belonged to Brenda Lyons who, according to her daughter, ‘was an exquisitely dressed woman who was always interested in the fashion world', 'even working for a fashion house in the 1950's, Rahvis, which I believe was near South Molton Street.’ It is probable Brenda Lyons purchased the top in Levison’s London showroom on Mortimer Street, close to Brenda Lyon’s’ place of work. As the label states, the top was hand-knitted in Gozo, Malta.