On Sunday night in Sydney, on the eve of Australian fashion week, First Nations Fashion and Design (FNFD) staged their first runway show in four years. Titled Reclamation, the collective featured the work of six Indigenous brands and designers with an all-Indigenous cast of models, and closed with performances from rapper Barkaa and poet Luke Currie-Richardson.
A New Annual Platform
Announcing their plan to become an annual runway platform for Indigenous designers – outside of the industry’s formal structures – the FNFD founder, Grace Lillian Lee said: ‘Reclamation was never designed to fit comfortably within the existing fashion system. It was designed to challenge it, expand it, and ensure that our voices are not invited in temporarily, but embedded permanently within the future of Australian fashion’.
Highlighted Collections
Western Australian and Northern Territory collective Tjarlirli and Kaltukatjara Art presented hand-painted silk garments. Merrepen Arts, a remote Northern Territory arts centre, collaborated with Albertini Designs, Black Cat Couture and Jo Dunne, showcasing screen-printed sundresses, maxi skirts and halter tops. Multidisciplinary textile artist Dr Grace Lillian Lee showcased a vivid collection of ‘body sculptures’ and also showed costume works from Flora, designed for the Australian Ballet in partnership with Bangarra Dance Theatre.
Lightweight suiting and dresses were enlivened with prints from sisters Tarisse and Sarrita King in KingKing Creative’s collection. The Gurindji/Waanyi artists said they aimed to ‘bring the beauty, the connection and the stories of our deadly culture into everyday life’. Oversized school uniform-style suiting provided a punky canvas for the apparel range by communications agency Nungala Creative, which featured colourful illustrations and text-based artwork.
Samala Thakialee Cronin’s fashion label MumRed showed glamorous evening wear silhouettes with woven details made using traditional materials and techniques. Rapper Barkaa wore a technicolored Ulupna coat, designed by Anastasia Keshan and Ashley Maher, in collaboration with That New Label. Ulupna translates to ‘strong woman’ in Yorta Yorta language, and the designers said the garment was created in memory of Yorta Yorta winyarr (woman) Gloria Lexi Matthews.
Performances and Closing
The runway closed with a spoken word performance from poet Luke Currie-Richardson, accompanied by musician William Barton. Richardson received a standing ovation as he led attendees in a chant of ‘Always was, always will be Aboriginal land’. TV presenter Bianca Hunt modelled several garments during the runway show, eliciting whoops and cheers from the crowd whenever she stepped out.
