GRACE LILLIAN LEE & TJ COWLISHAW - FIRST NATIONS FASHION & DESIGN
ON MAKING HISTORY AT AFTERPAY AUSTRALIAN FASHION WEEK.
Our next guests, Grace Lillian Lee and TJ Cowlishaw are from First Nations Fashion and Design, a not-for-profit organisation that creates opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within the fashion industry.
We first met Grace and TJ backstage at Afterpay Australian Fashion Week in June of this year. They produced the First Nations Fashion and Design runway, the first ever indigenous show to be part of the fashion week program. It was a beautiful and symbolic moment. Their show made up 65% of all Fashion Week media coverage, reaching over 77 million people.
We spoke to Grace and TJ about how they pulled off the runway show with just 4 months to prep, what makes their partnership work so well, and how the organisation is impacting the lives of creatives around Australia.
You’ll learn:
How their runway show generated 65% of all Fashion Week media coverage, reaching over 77 million people.
How they pulled off AAFW with just 4 months to prepare
How they make their business partnership work when they live on opposite sides of the country
How it’s taken over a decade of hard work and resilience to get to where they are
Why their impact drives every single decision they make
We hope you enjoyed this conversation – for more podcast action follow us on Instagram @lady.brains, or sign up to our monthly newsletter at www.ladybrains.com
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“I always said to her, it’s inevitable. One day, we will do something you just wait. How many times were you like ‘nah, nah, nah, I’m happy just to do my own thing.’ ”
“[The vision was to create] a revolution. [Grace] was like, ‘no, we’re dreaming too big.’ And I said ‘you know what? You’ve gotta dream big right away.’”
“At Australian Sydney Fashion Week we got a standing ovation. For people to be moved with tears...I remember standing in the wings of the show. I said holy shit, we’re gonna make change in this country through fashion. I’ve been working towards this for a decade. We both have been. To really see the fashion industry understanding and not just thinking we’re a theatrical performance, was a dream come true. So yeah, that for me, was the pinnacle moment.”
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