Kit Willow.Credit:Roger Cummins.
However,on Thursday a spokeswoman for The Apparel Group,which also owns Sportscraft and Saba,told Fairfax Media that Ms Willow"is no longer a part of Willow or The Apparel Group".
She said Ms Willow and the retail group had reached an agreement on her departure"a few weeks ago". She would not shed any light on why the partnership ended.
"It's business as usual and,at this point in time,there's nothing further to say,"she said.
A spokeswoman for Ms Willow said the designer was away and currently unavailable for comment but said"walking away is probably not the right word"for what happened.
Another source said Ms Willow's dismissal had come as a"complete shock"and described The Apparel Group's treatment of the designer as"extraordinary."
Ms Willow,who grew up in Melbourne before moving to Sydney to expand her business,launched her Willow label in 2003 when she debuted at Australian Fashion Week. She has since shown collections on the international fashion circuit including at London Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week.
Willow has six stand-alone boutiques across the country and nine concession stores at David Jones. The label also boasts more than 80 international stockists including online fashion giant net-a-porter.com.