Narrandera Aboriginal fashion designer Lillardia Briggs-Houston has made the cover of the illustrious fashion magazine Vogue Australia due out in early May.
The front cover of the May issue featuring Aboriginal models and fashion designs shows model Magnolia in a dress created by Narrandera’s well known local designer.
Four Indigenous women, models and creatives came together with Vogue Australia, in collaboration with First Nations Fashion Design in a celebration of First Nations talent and intergenerational change.
The cover photo showcases these First Nations designers.
Lillardia is the niece of Narrandera residents Dexter and Julie Briggs and granddaughter of Bessie and Cedric Briggs.
The late Bessie Briggs of Narrandera taught her granddaughter to sew when she lived with her as a young girl.
Bessie left school at 14 and at the time couldn’t read or write. She decided to further her education and also studied fashion in the 60s.
“She would sit me up at the dining room table and teach me how to draught garment patterns out of old newspapers taped together and second hand materials for fabric,” said Lillardia.
The young designer creates all her own artwork and hand prints onto natural materials in her home studio in Narrandera.
“It’s really important to honour and value the stories depicted in my textile artwork while living on country to pay respects to my ancestors. I really don’t think I could do this anywhere else because it’s where I was raised and holds so much cultural meaning to me,” she said.
This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 28 April 2022.
