Indigenous design has often played a supporting role at Australian fashion weeks. But that is set to change when Melbourne Fashion Week opens next month with an all-First Nations opening-night runway, focused on emerging brands. Denni Francisco, whose label Ngali staged the first solo runway by an Indigenous designer at Australian Fashion Week in Sydney in 2023, says opening MFW with the “Ganbu Marra” (One Community) parade “further solidifies the recognition of First Nations creativity, not as an act of inclusion, but as a rightful and vital part of our national fashion industry”.
Melbourne Fashion Week ambassador G Flip (second from left) with models wearing local designers, including Indigenous brand Ngali (left). Credit: Simon Schluter “Every year in every way the momentum continues to grow, and I am so excited by all the space and potential ahead,” says Francisco, whose collection will feature in a runway alongside other established brands such as Bianca Spender, Gary Bigeni and Gail Sorronda. In a second historic decision, MFW’s 2024 ambassador is Melbourne-born musician G Flip, who is the first non-binary face of the event, which is celebrating its 30th iteration.
G Flip says fashion helped shape their gender identity throughout their adolescence and since coming out as non-binary about four years ago. “Growing up, there were clothes I felt more comfortable in my skin wearing, and clothes that I didn’t,” they say. “There was definitely a stage in .