Perina Drummond (left) and Grace Lillian Lee are creating and leading the First Nations fashion community they wished they had had as developing designers. Photos: Supplied.
A powerhouse Torres Strait-led fashion business is making waves in the industry by giving space to fresh First Nations talent in the form of a community hub.
First Nations Fashion + Design (FNFD) unveiled its new creative space on 27 March, ready to inspire and ignite ideas.
Founder Grace Lillian Lee, a Miriam Mer Samsep woman and globally recognised artist and designer, said she wanted to create a safe place for mob to connect, learn and share.
She said she and her all-Indigenous team had a wealth of industry knowledge to share with the next generation of creatives.
“It’s really about giving the opportunity to [mob] to be seen, and given the opportunity to have leadership roles within this space,” she said.
“I’m tired of us always just being a cultural program, or always having to focus on a ‘First Nations element’.
“There’s such a big scope of the sector that we can be involved in, and I hope that’s what First Nations Fashion + Design does for the nation.”
Also paving the way is FNFD program manager Perina Drummond, a Daurareb, Wuthathi and Yadhaykenu woman who has always been surrounded by fashion.
Ms Drummond fondly looked back on her days growing up on Waiben (Thursday Island), playing with the fabrics and lace her akas, aunties and mother used to make their own dresses.
However, as her passion and talent began to lead her into the mainstream fashion industry, she realised First Nations representation in those spaces was pitifully lacking.
“I was there when there was no First Nations fashion runway shows, there was hardly any First Nations talents, [and] there were hardly any designers,” she said.
“I had to really look far and wide to put together three designers, whereas now, there is an absolute influx.
“It’s really cool that we get to bring it back to community.”
From a drive to highlight the voices of Indigenous designers and creatives, FNFD has gone on to lead showcases at Australia Fashion Week and overseas.
Ms Drummond and Ms Lee are also the only two First Nations Australians to have received one of the highest accolades in the international fashion industry realm — Business of Fashion 500 recognition.
Trinity Bay State High School students who had been working on techniques to create their own designs through a program with FNFD have used fashion as a way to explore and connect with their cultures.
Torres Strait Islander students Tassiana Riordan and Jahnesta Nona were both excited to have their creation showcased to the 2026 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair through FNFD.
“It is great to show our culture and represent how it is,” Ms Riordan said.
“We’re all really diverse in our own way, so it’s really great to have this opportunity.”
For Ms Lee, it was a pinch-me moment to see the young artists her team had been working with at the hub.
“It’s really beautiful to see the students from Trinity Bay come here and see this space,” she said.
“We’re finally creating a space that’s a welcoming creative hub for First Nations people to feel seen and inspired, and hopefully, spark that interest in a creative.”
Tassiana Riordan will be sharing her designs at the 2026 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair later this year through an FNFD program.
