After a fashion – creative industries from First Nations culture

When I first heard that Victorian regional gallery, Bendigo Art Gallery, was planning an exhibition about contemporary Indigenous fashion I was impressed. The Gallery has had a long history of fashion exhibitions, drawing on its own collection and in partnership with other institutions, notably the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. It is fascinating to consider how a leading regional Australian museum and an internationally renowned museum on the global stage, while in many ways so different, have so much in common. The exhibition is far more than a single event in a Victorian regional centre – it is an expression of a much broader contemporary Indigenous fashion phenomenon nation-wide. It hints at the potential of the creative economy and creative industries to build stronger communities. Both the economic importance and the community and social importance of creativity and culture are tightly interlinked because of the way in which creativity and culture are integral to everyday life and the essential activities that make it up.

I have been to both museums quite a few times and it is fascinating to consider how a leading regional Australian museum and an internationally renowned museum on the global stage, while in many ways so different, have so much in common. Previous fashion exhibitions included ‘Marimekko: Design Icon 1951 to 2018’, ‘Grace Kelly: Style Icon’ and ‘The Golden Age of Couture’, all of which I managed to see and thoroughly enjoyed. There were many more which I didn’t see: ‘Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion’, ‘Desert Lines: Batik from Central Australia’, ‘Undressed: 350 years of fashion in underwear’ and ‘The White Wedding Dress: 200 years of wedding fashions’ to name a few.

Earlier days in a national phenomenon - fashion parade, Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, 2013.

As the Gallery website notes ‘Piinpi: Contemporary Indigenous Fashion’ ‘brings together a selection of garments and textiles by First Nations designers and artists from around Australia. The first major survey of contemporary Indigenous Australian fashion to be undertaken in this country, Piinpi sheds lights on a growing industry which is blossoming and set to become Australia’s major fashion movement. ‘Piinpi: Contemporary Indigenous Fashion’ celebrates Indigenous art, history and culture through the lens of contemporary fashion.’