Edith Mary "Mollie" Grove (14 September 1909 – 23 February 1996) was an Australian weaver, textile designer, and business owner.
[6] Under the tutelage of Frau Jorgens, a talented German weaver, Grove did an apprenticeship learning advanced weaving techniques.
[10] The women quickly found an ideal location for a new studio in the basement of the Royal Exchange Assurance Building on Queen Street, with a loom for Mollie and a theatre replica for Catherine.
With that, the weaving business eclarté was born, and Grove began by teaching the technical side of producing handwoven woollens.
[15] The influence of the war made imported fashion hard to come by[15] and the growth in practice of the tradition of weaving gave rise to their early business success.
[16] Offering tailored suits at half the price of comparable imported products and achieving an exclusivity deal with David Jones, eclarté became known as one of the best cloths in Australia.
[2] With the war period behind them, eclarté took on commissions developing furnishing fabrics for building projects, putting them in contact with such notable architects of the time as Robin Boyd, Roy Grounds, and Stephenson and Turner.
[3] Despite their glowing reputation and quality product, competition from big industry led to them downgrading their factory and moving to convert an old flour mill in Heathcote.