From Country to Couture

Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair’s (DAAF) fashion show, From Country To Couture, has fast become one of the fair’s highlights since its debut in 2016.

The show marries high-end fashion and contemporary fine art with textiles and garments on the cat-walk, from art centres and private designers from across the country. 

The 2018 event will see Brisbane based designer and photographer Shannon Brett launch her debut solo fashion line, after impressing on the runway with collaborations in previous years.

“In the past few years I have been designing for art centres as a facilitator and teacher, but this year I will go it on my own and present my first solo fashion line, Lore,” she says.

“Lore has been born out of my understanding as an Aboriginal person who respects the lores that we as first peoples recognise as our values and traditions. That the stories on these fabrics are lore to us and to all communities who choose to express themselves visually.

“I am at an exciting point in my career and hope that I can continue to support Indigenous textiles for many years.”

Brett has been involved with DAAF for a number of years and says the fair is a supportive springboard for artists. 

“The Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair has supported me by understanding that I want this to be a win-win situation for myself as a proud Aboriginal woman, a designer and for the art centres whose fabrics I create these pieces with,” she says.

“I love visiting DAAF each year as it offers an open arms approach to all communities and I feel that DAAF has created the perfect vehicle for remote art centres to endorse how they carry on their cultural traditions and to create new pathways for young people interested in art.”

Wed 8 Aug | 4pm & 8pm | Skycity Darwin | See the event listing

Thumbnail and inset by Shannon Brett. Fabric by Injalak Arts.

Header: From Country to Couture, 2017; Murray Hilton