In a first for Australian Fashion Week, the First Nations Fashion + Design show took place this week, showcasing Aboriginal fashion designers, photographers, models, hair and makeup artists, stylists, jewellery designers and textile artists. Filled with vivid prints and brilliant colours of the earth, the long overdue show was profound and poignant. Indigenous model and ambassador for First Nations Fashion + Design, Charlee Fraser opened the show, “proud, empowering, hopeful and emotional,” she told us after the show. “I knew from the moment Grace Lillian Lee, Teagan Cowlishaw (of FNFD) and I had our first Zoom meeting during COVID that [ambassadorship] would be my path and my involvement would extend on beyond what we could have ever imagined. Being apart of, not just FNFD but Grace and Teagan’s life, has bought me so much love, support, knowledge and connection to culture I wasn’t sure I’d ever get the chance to have and for that I’m eternally grateful.” She hopes for Indigenous representation everywhere, “not just models, not just fashion, not just Australia.” During the week, she championed sustainable fashion and will produce a sustainable fashion guide at the conclusion of fashion week. “Brands and companies that are sustainable, ethical and implementing change goes hand in hand with my love of nature and connection to land, I want to show consumers that ‘high-end fashion is possible and here’s how’."

Above image: Charlee wears Grace Lillian Lee.

@charleefraser