First Nations modelling agency Blaklist and Elaine George are getting the next generation runway ready
Under George’s discerning but lion-hearted mentorship, these First Nations models are carving their own path in fashion.
A gaggle of people pile into the studio in the middle of Australian fashion week in May. Rain is threatening outside, and fatigue is setting in, but the buoyancy and vibrancy in the studio outweighs it. A cohort of young models has flown in from all around Australia and is here at the beginning of their modelling journeys. They have struck out for promising horizons – many on their own, leaving their Country and family thousands of kilometres away – with a spirit that only belongs to the young.
They are here as part of Blaklist, a First Nations-led model agency, spearheaded by founder and lead agent Teagan ‘TJ’ Cowlishaw, along with Elaine George, known to many of the models as Aunty Elaine. George presides over all, checking none of them are being “naughty ones” (they aren’t) and in deep conversation with one model, showing her how to use a camera – Blaklist mentors creatives in many career paths in fashion. Then she steps into frame herself, where she transforms: all power and authority.
George, who works in child protection, had largely left her modelling past behind. She made history as the first ever Aboriginal model on the cover of Vogue Australia in 1993, but withdrew from an industry that didn’t welcome First Nations talent. “It just wasn’t a very nice industry for Aboriginal people back then,” she says. “I didn’t even have someone that even looked like me or sounded like me.” But after Vogue Australia got in touch to shoot a multigenerational cover of First Nations talent in 2022, George saw the power of supporting the younger generation and began mentoring from that point on. “TJ [Cowlishaw] and I came together and said, ‘What if we could give this experience to remote community mob and how do we do this?’”
Enter this group of talent. Gathering from the distant reaches of Western Australia to New South Wales’s Northern Rivers and Far North Queensland, they are sharing a house for fashion week in Sydney. Some are more familiar with each other than others, yet all occupy the space with grace, strength and determination, taking photos, laughing and sharing snacks. This month, as NAIDOC takes place with the theme The Next Generation: Strength, Vision and Legacy, we celebrate the power of young leaders like these and their bright futures.
Meet the next generation of First Nations models
Calli-Rose Woods
At 22, Perth-based Calli-Rose Woods has already received some sage, albeit unconventional, advice as a model. “Getting told not to play the week before,” she says of AFL, following her recent selection for a women’s senior squad and in reference to the bruises she regularly clocks up.
So far, she’s making it work. Originally from Wyndham, west of Kununurra in Western Australia, Woods is easing into modelling. Growing up going to school in a remote area, “high heels are scary”, she says. Her start came when a Perth-based designer DMed her. Now, with George’s support (“she paves the way”), Woods is passing on her confidence to others. “I coach a basketball team where a lot of the young boys started off homeless,” she says. “I thought to myself, ‘I’ve moved a long way. I should make a little family of my own.’”
Hayley Mulardy
Raised in the Bidyadanga community, 180 kilometres south of Broome, Hayley Mulardy has a unique approach to modelling. “Because I work as an Indigenous ranger, this model stuff is different,” she says. The 22-year-old sees it as complementing her work on Country. “It’s deadly, because they’re both good for my culture,” she says. “One day I can be out in the bush, looking at Country, and then you’ve got this, where I can go and travel and meet other Indigenous people.”
Mulardy has a grounded attitude to modelling, knowing she’ll always be anchored to caring for Country. “When I was young, I didn’t have the time to learn my culture. After I graduated from school, I went straight into ranger work.” While she is keen to pass on knowledge to the next generation, on the runway she’s self-possessed. “I step out and it’s model mode.”
Shakiah and Jaminey Weatherall
While twin sisters Shakiah and Jaminey Weatherall share a birthday and Kamilaroi Anaiwan roots with connections to Bundjalung, the 20-year-olds are their own person. “I’m a youth worker, which is good, because I can also bring my fashion interests into the workplace and mentor young Indigenous females,” says Shakiah.
“I’ve always played rugby league and left the modelling to Shakiah – it was her thing,” offers Jaminey. That changed, though, after a shoot she did with her sister. “I thought, ‘Okay, this is actually kind of fun.’”
Now hitting a rhythm, the two stay authentically themselves, something George has taught them. “Really emphasising being yourself wherever you go,” says Jaminey. George remains a guiding light. “When I get in my mind about, ‘I can’t do this, can’t do that,’ she’s a perfect example that you can,” says Shakiah.
Tiah Rotumah
Twenty-year-old Tiah Rotumah jumped at the chance to model after being scouted on social media. She had long looked up to Vogue cover girl Cindy Rostron, whom she followed on TikTok. “It really interested me, but I didn’t know how to get into it,” she says, “and then the opportunity came.”
A Bundjalung and Dunghutti woman from northern New South Wales, Rotumah debuted at this year’s Australian fashion week. Walking the runway for designer Jordan Gogos – one of the week’s most anticipated shows – she felt surprisingly at ease, thanks to the support from her fellow Blaklist models.
“Before I landed in Sydney, I was a lot more nervous,” she said before the show. “Now I’m here, I’m feeling quite confident.”
Gillyba Ambrum
During her final year of high school in Cairns, Gillyba Ambrum began modelling, reluctantly. “It was kind of a joke, because everyone around me kept telling me to do modelling,” says the 24-year-old. But after walking in the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair followed by the runway show during Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Ambrum concedes she “fell in love with it”.
Now based in Sydney, Ambrum is clocking up more runway work while also focusing on another love – her daughter. “Motherhood is such a job in general,” she says, of balancing work with looking after her daughter, who has special needs. “I’ll always love modelling and want to pursue it – that’s why I haven’t stopped,” she says. “I want to prove to my daughter and other mothers: don’t forget you have your dreams and aspirations as well.”
Tynga Williams
Growing up watching Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks make their mark sparked something in Tynga Williams’s mind, but it was creativity that lit a fire to model in the now 25-year-old.
“I just really love art, and I grew up loving singing and dancing and musical theatre, then realised clothing was another way art was expressed,” she says. As a trans model, Williams knew she wanted to be on the runway, and a 2022 debut at Australian fashion week was a turning point. “It cemented that it’s a possibility I can [make happen].” And she has, across multiple Australian fashion weeks and between cabaret and jazz performances. “I’m very determined,” she says.
Through her work and exposure, she hopes to ignite something in others, too. “I hope there are queer or trans people who might be growing up in foster care, like I did. I hope they see me and have the confidence to try something new,” she says.
Kaymus Brierly
For 19-year-old Kaymus Brierly, who grew up in Wickham, in the Pilbara, school photography classes in Perth offered a window into the modelling industry. “It just fuelled that passion,” they say.
While this year’s Australian fashion week was their first, Brierly showed great composure walking in front of hundreds of people. “I just wait for the moment until I step out and the nerves go away,” they say. “I enter this confident moment where I’m able to just be myself.”
Blaklist’s support also helps by creating a culturally safe space for talent. “I lean on them because it can be quite rough, and it shouldn’t be, to go through a mainstream program.” Now, having just started their first year studying medicine, Brierly is looking to find balance. “I’m so passionate about both and definitely want to continue modelling.”
Rosie Baumann
Hailing from Butchulla Country, in Queensland’s Hervey Bay, 24-year-old Rosie Baumann hopes to see more diversity on the runways she’s now joining, in size, gender and inclusion of First Nations talent. “Selling fashion that is worn on my body is going to sell to a lot more diverse crowd,” she says astutely.
Now based in Sydney, the architecture student is motivated to bring her authentic self to the runway, thanks to advice from George. “Being present on the runway … not to do that scared disassociation,” she explains. “You can walk with your style, you can work with your swagger. You know yourself and your body.”
Baumann is now enjoying seeing models bring their heritage to the shows, like George, who has incorporated culturally significant movement in her walk. “I know a lot of other mob were also encouraged because it’s us bringing out our culture and our character.”
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