16 First Nations Designers Shaping Australian Fashion Now
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The last few years have been transformative for First Nations fashion. In 2023, Melbourne label Ngali made history with the first-ever standalone runway by an Indigenous designer at Australian Fashion Week. Solo shows followed in 2025 from labels such as Joseph and James and Liandra. It was also the year that saw Meriam Mir designer Grace Lillian Lee become the first Indigenous Australian to present at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week.
From the Northern Territory to the riverbanks of New South Wales, a new wave of First Nations designers is reinterpreting Country, culture and craft. Across hand-carved jewellery, sculptural couture, bold prints and socially conscious streetwear, they transform traditional practices, motifs and symbolism into pieces that tell stories. These are the First Nations designers to have on your radar.
Grace Lillian Lee
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Grace Lillian Lee is one of Australia’s most celebrated First Nations designers. Just last year, she became the first Australian to hold an independent show at Paris’s Haute Couture Fashion Week – with Jean Paul Gaultier in attendance. The award-winning, Cairns-born, Torres Strait Islander artist has become known for her intricately woven sculptural garments. Her wearable art pieces are one of a kind, catapulting First Nations design onto the world stage.
Corin Corcoran
Corin Corcoran’s upcycled designs stood out at Melbourne Fashion Week 2025. The Weilwan slow fashion designer has built a distinct practice around garments made entirely from recycled and found materials – emu feathers, sun-bleached fabric remnants and other discarded objects gathered on walks in nature. The results are far removed from their origins: contemporary, sharply considered pieces that balance structured corsetry and soft drape with unexpected materiality. Corcoran takes custom orders via Instagram DM.
Joseph and James
Juanita Page launched Joseph and James in 2021, drawn to menswear for its “blank canvas” potential, compared with womenswear in Australia. Since then, the Gooreng Gooreng and South Sea Islander designer has been nominated for Indigenous Designer of the Year at the 2023 Australian Fashion Laureate, before staging her first solo show at AFW 2025. Relaxed tailoring, slouchy knits and considered construction define the label’s aesthetic, resulting in a collection with a quietly confident and laid-back sensibility.
Lychee Alkira
Wiradjuri designer Renee Henderson walks the line between resortwear and sculptural art pieces with her label Lychee Alkira. Colour, movement and texture are pivotal to the fashion label’s storytelling. Despite being only a few years out of her Tafe NSW Fashion Design Studio, Henderson has already showcased her designs at Australian Fashion Week, Melbourne Fashion Week and Melbourne Fashion Festival. Lychee Alkira is described as “sweet, bright and sunny” by Henderson, who draws inspiration from the environment in her use of natural fibres and dyeing techniques.
EB Studio
Kamilaroi and Dunghutti woman Ebony Birks welds made-to-order jewellery pieces inspired by nature. They’re pieces that “tell a story, celebrate culture and connect the past to the present”. Under her label EB Studio, Birks’ gentle and deep understanding of the natural world around her shines through minimalist jewellery and art. Her Aboriginal symbols collection features motifs of a man, a woman, the sun and water, translated into pendants and rings. Other standout pieces include her Rapid drop earrings (inspired by the tracks formed from running rivers) and her Droplet Effect earrings (informed by the ripples formed when droplets hit the surface of water).
Liandra
Founded by Liandra Gaykamangu, a Yolngu creative from East Arnhem Land, Liandra offers swimwear and breezy resortwear in sizes 6 to 20. Hand-drawn prints inspired by culture adorn spunky reversible cuts. We especially love the Clam one-shoulder top and Darwin top in a pink reef print. And this coral-adorned T-shirt makes for the perfect beach cover-up.
Yapa Mali
Creativity is a core part of Wangaaypuwan/Ngiyambaa and Wiradjuri woman Maddy Hope-Hodgetts’s life. She’s an interdisciplinary artist whose medium spans cultural dance, weaving, painting, language and, of course, fashion. Through her four-year-old label, Yapa Mali, she designs contemporary apparel featuring prints she’s created herself. Most pieces, like the Kiruu blazer and Ngulu shirt, are made to order here in Australia.
Ngali
Since founding Ngali in 2018, Wiradjuri designer Denni Francisco has been a two-time winner of the National Indigenous Fashion Awards’ Fashion Designer prize. In May 2023, the Melbourne-based fashion label marked the first-ever standalone presentation by an Indigenous designer on the official schedule at Afterpay Australian Fashion Week with a solo runway. Each collection tells stories of the Australian landscape, turning artworks by First Nations creatives into breezy silhouettes like the Shadow Bark kaftan and the Stoney Bark silk shirt.
Lillardia Briggs-Houston
Wiradjuri, Gangulu and Yorta Yorta fashion designer Lillardia Briggs-Houston draws on traditional practices like carving, bush dying and weaving to create garments deeply connected to Country. Creating all of her textiles and prints by hand, her designs have appeared on the front cover of Vogue Australia. Living on the banks of the Marrambidya (Murrumbidgee) River, Briggs-Houston often looks to the surrounding landscape for inspiration, incorporating motifs like freshwater mussels. The Bindugaany necklace is handmade using freshwater shell beads gathered along the river itself.
Clothing the Gaps
Aboriginal-led clothing label and social enterprise Clothing the Gaps quickly took Melbourne by storm when it launched online in 2020. Known for its unisex line of T-shirts, singlets, caps, track pants and hoodies, it’s streetwear with a purpose. Graphics such as “Not a date to celebrate” and “Always was” form part of its mainstay collection that encourages people to wear their values. The B-Corp-certified and Ethical Clothing Australia-accredited fashion label focuses on activism as much as it does its apparel, leading various campaigns pertaining to First Nations people.
Take Pride Movement
Founded by Bila-Kalari man Benjamin Thomson, Take Pride Movement is one of the leading First Nations streetwear brands. Since 2018, it’s been creating loud, proud, message-driven clothing. Inspired by old-school hip-hop, classic sportswear and contemporary streetwear, Take Pride Movement fuses tongue-in-cheek values with eye-catching designs. Take a look at its Make Australia Black Again MABA snapback cap to see what we mean.
Maara Collective
Yuwaalaraay designer Julie Shaw’s luxury resortwear label Maara Collective echoes the earthy colours of Country through stylish cuts and softly tailored pieces. Some transform striking First Nations artwork into wearable silhouettes like the Kimberley maxi and Lowanna skirt while others take a more pared-back approach such as the Rea fringed dress.
By Josh Deane
Artist and designer Josh Deane translates his bold graphic style into wearable street style. Oversized hoodies and trackies are distressed and splashed with neon artwork. Shirts and sets of tailored pants and blazers stand out with maximalist zebra prints, lions, tigers and other playful motifs. Elsewhere, cockatoos, kookaburras and echidnas are splashed across bodysuits, bikinis and spaghetti-strap dresses. Each piece tells a personal story, incorporating references to Indigenous culture and contemporary art.
Miimi and Jiinda
Miimi and Jiinda – meaning “mother and sister” – was founded in 2018 by Gumbaynggirr, Bundjalung and Dunghutti woman Melissa Greenwood and her mother, Lauren Jarrett. The label’s ready-to-wear line tells stories through traditional painting and weaving, pairing breezy silhouettes with original, boldly patterned artworks. In 2025, Miimi and Jiinda won the Business Achievement Award at the National Indigenous Fashion Awards, and since its launch has become one of Australia’s most recognised First Nations-owned brands in fashion.
Gammin Threads
“Don’t be a dumb dog.” “You lubly.” “Blak girl magic.” Melbourne-based designer Tahnee Edwards prints gammin – a slang term for something cheeky or playful – phrases across tees and other merch. Launched in 2018 as a creative side project, the brand has grown into one of Australia’s most recognisable contemporary First Nations streetwear labels. Some designs reference Barbie, like the Blakfulla T-shirt, while others mimic Scandi cool-girl label Ganni. Its latest collaboration – celebrating gender-diverse Indigenous Australians – features a range of hoodies, jumpers and tees adorned with shields and butterfly motifs, designed by Dja Dja Wurrung and Yorta Yorta artist Enoki.
Rowland Vision
Founded in 2022 by proud Wiradjuri and Waiben Island man Lindyn Rowland, eyewear label Rowland Vision’s frames are bold, futuristic and sharp, with prominent fans like The Kid Laroi. While its online store is temporarily on pause, you can still shop the collection at Shop Dussy in Brunswick.
This article was first published on July 7, 2025 and has since been updated.
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