Oh, Fashion Week. The glitz, the glamour, the seating charts that make their way into the innermost crevasses of your slumber. This Afterpay Australian Fashion Week, I had the chance to work with MFPR’s Matt Jordan, alongside fellow NFC student, Hannah Separovich, on the momentous Ikuntji Artists show. As the first art centre established for women of the Western Desert art movement, as well as the very first Aboriginal art centre to present a solo show at AAFW, the Ikuntji Artists can be described as nothing less than trailblazers. So, when Matt asked us to join the team, I jumped at the chance to gain not only hands-on experience running PR for a show, but also to become a small part of a historic step forward in celebrating First Nations culture and talent.

Prior to working with MFPR, I had no inkling of just how much effort went into a show’s guest list. Ours, in particular, required careful consideration due to the nature of the show. For weeks on end, we tackled the monster Gallery 2 seating chart, color-coding by guest category, and reaching out to IMG’s official delegates, as well as a curated list of community members, media, industry leaders, and more. As we communicated to potential invitees, our aim was to “emphasize the opportunity that fashion affords us of starting conversations and building bridges between First Nations Designers and the broader industry.” That meant prioritizing seating for community members above all while also doing our best to ensure a diverse group of attendees intent on embodying genuine allyship and support for our artists.

While we continued to pull together our seating chart up until the day of the show, the most thrilling part of the internship came in the final week, when we finally had the chance to see the garments on our incredible models and make final tweaks and styling decisions. The Ikuntji Artists had been flown in by that point, and they all were so visibly excited to see their work in action as our models used the NFC hallway for their make-shift practice runway.

The big day itself, when it finally arrived, was as hectic as it was exhilarating. Running from one end of Carriageworks to another with our headsets and radios, the team went from bumping in, to checking on the artists and models, to welcoming guests front of house. We were not without some minor (and major!) emergencies throughout the week and in the hours leading up to the show, but both Matt and our Creative Director, Ana Keshan, were forces to be reckoned with. Several missing pieces, design tweaks, guest list adjustments, and last-minute track changes later, we finally got to sit back and watch as it all magically came together in a beautiful display of artistry, culture, and community.

Despite my familiarity with each of the garments, seeing the way they shone on the runway absolutely blew me away. The culmination of these designs was an immense testament to the collaborations that made them possible – from our artists to our makers, and the models who wore them so beautifully. Having the opportunity to witness the work of these brilliant artists, who brought with them fragments and stories and dreams from their remote community of 150 residents, was an indescribable honour.

I knew then and there, as we watched the community walk proudly down that runway one last time to one of the few standing ovations at AAFW this year, cheered on by our incredible cast of First Nations models, that we’d do it all again, in a heartbeat, just for that singular moment.