Fashion Week’s First Indigenous Runway
Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia just got more diverse. An Australian Indigenous Fashion Showcase will take place on Friday May 15 as part of the official designer schedule. It is the first time that Aboriginal Fashion Designers and their Torres Strait Islander counterparts will feature in their own runway on Sydney’s global stage.
Presented by the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair Foundation (DAAF), the runway offering will celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and creativity. Additionally, the foundation will also provide opportunities for indigenous designers, creatives and fashion industry professionals to get involved in the production. Expressions of interest will open on February 26. Five designers will be featured.
We’ve been hoping for some time that mainstream fashion events across the country would represent Australia’s exciting indigenous fashion scene across all facets of the industry. That includes greater visibility of diverse models.
Interestingly, the Perth Fashion Festival had been running an extremely popular Indigenous Fashion Runway since 2016. It was the first in the country to so. Their inaugural parade was led by Samantha Harris.
Meanwhile in Melbourne, VAMFF have also played host to a Global Indigenous Runway for some time. We’d like to see all Australian fashion festivals OPEN with an Aboriginal fashion runway.
To see some of our top Aboriginal Fashion Designers, check out our feature from Naidoc Week.
Australian Fashion Week Australia runs from May 11 to May 15 at Sydney’s Carriageworks.
