Grace Lillian Lee’s intricate woven neckpieces wouldn’t look out of place on the catwalks of Paris, but were actually created much closer to home.
Her designs drew inspiration from the traditional weaving techniques of her Torres Strait Islander heritage.
Her works, and those of eight other artists, were on display this week as part of Nurlanthi, a show celebrating Indigenous design, at the Adelaide Fashion Festival.
“It's really a platform to enable other young men and women like myself to be able to connect with something that may have been lost,” she said.
Backstage at Nurlanthi, Ms Lee’s pieces were draped like armour around the necks of regal-looking models.
Indigenous designs at the festival (SBS) Source: SBS News
“This is probably about 100 metres of cotton that I’ve woven to create a shoulder adornment,” she said, while pausing to inspect a piece so large it descended past the navel.
“I’m working a lot with exploring body sculptures, and working the weaving around the body.”
Rebekah Von Senden is one of the Indigenous cast of models chosen to show off the designs on the catwalk.
“It makes me feel like a proud Aboriginal woman to wear [these] clothes, that our people made,” she said, in one of her first fashion shows.
Her appearance in Nurlanthi has landed her an agent, an experience the young model described as “absolutely amazing”.
Fashion editor Deni Jones said the work of the nine artists made waves among Australia’s fashion faithful when the collection was previewed at this week's festival.
“People were moved to tears at the AFF launch,” she said.
Ms Lee hoped others may be similarly inspired by the designs.
“The true beauty of our people needs to be shown, and we do have a place in the fashion industry,” she said.
