INDIGENOUS FASHION PROJECTS RUNWAY / AAFW
The Indigenous Fashion Projects show took place on Gadigal land of the Eora Nation at Afterpay Australian Fashion Week. The IFP programme highlights connection to country, sustainable practice and community engagement as core pillars of its work. This was beautifully displayed under the guidance of Creative director Eastern Arrernte woman Shilo Mcnamee.
We were immersed in a digital, physical, visual and soundscape journey moving from the desert to the sea, while the designers showcased creative material use, practical and whimsical silhouettes in daywear and swimwear, and beautiful textile patterns clearly inspired by country and local art.
Kirrikin highlighted a strong inspiration from their most respected female artists in their textiles. MAARA Collective’s easy relaxed contours and earthy colour palette gave us an organic and beautiful resort collection. Ngali’s beautiful and practical pieces celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander artwork make their stories visible and accessible for anyone to wear anywhere. In swimwear Liandra Swim’s Deep Sea collection using regenerated plastics and eco-friendly dyes showed beauty through sustainability. Native Swimwear Australia celebrated bright colour and swimwear silhouettes complementing all body types.
The warmth and encouragement of the room were solidified with whooping yells, tears of pride, dancing in seats and a hard, endless clapping every single time each model came down the runway. Alongside a lot more diverse shows in this year’s AAFW it was refreshing, and unsurprising, to see a new showcase from our oldest culture celebrating different skin tones, shapes, sizes and gender fluidity in clothing. As my friend frankly put it “it’s so nice to see a show where I don’t feel like shit because I don’t look like any of the people in it”. Looking back on Astrophe’s interview with Samantha Harris and Nathan McGuire it was also great to note their conversation about seeing more First Nations male models on this level is coming to fruition. Talents like Koongurrukan and Iwaidja/Morung model Joshua Morris were walking the runway with obvious pride in themselves, mirrored in the audience.
Ending the show was a dynamic and extremely fun performance by pop star and the new Community Ambassador for Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair Foundation Jessica Mauboy. The room lit up as she gave us an exclusive performance of her new single “Automatic”, a song about having faith in your own intuition and taking the reigns on your own path. An apt soundtrack for the final walk celebrating the amazing First Nations designers, models and creative team. We are told fashion is a storytelling medium, and First Nations people have some of the oldest stories in the world. This show was a celebration of and a reminder to pay attention, see the beauty in, and listen to the stories of the culture that birthed this country.
Indigenous Fashion Projects Runway, presented by Afterpay, supported by David Jones at Afterpay Australian Fashion Week 2022, Styling by Rhys Ripper, Hair by Redken, Makeup by Lancome Photos by Angela Arlow / Words by Alex Officer / You can see more from the designers here: Kirrikin / Native Swimwear Australia / Liandra Swim / MAARA Collective / Ngali
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