After a pandemic-induced delay, a comprehensive survey of first First Nation designers is a pivotal moment for Australian fashion.
Model Magnolia Maymuru wears a Grace Rosendale Seedpods dress, which is made from silk organza, elastic and sequined fabric. Bronwyn Kidd, courtesy of the artist, Hopevale Arts and Cultural Centre and Queensland University of Technology
Growing up in the remote town of Coen on the Cape York Peninsula, Shonae Hobson got her first taste of fashion visiting Indigenous art fairs in Cairns and Darwin. While her artist mum, Naomi Hobson, exhibited paintings, the young Shonae revelled in the colourful designs and garments, the storytelling, the Indigenous models, the lively atmosphere.
She remembers one art fair where designer Grace Lillian Lee led a troupe of Mornington Island artists as they danced and modelled their own outfits – thousands of miles in both distance and spirit from the runway shows of the world's fashion capitals.
