As part of 2022's Melbourne Fashion Hub, two emerging designers advocate for change and weave social commentary, sustainability, and cultural expressions into their pieces.

These designers are Trinh Nguyen, creative director at TRIENIX, and Celina Samarakoon, owner of the brand, Child of Society.

Photograph 1 credit: Karen Woo

Photograph 2: Celina Samarakoon

As a love letter to her Vietnamese heritage and love of Japanese anime style and gender-diverse fashion, Trinh Nguyen created her fashion brand, TRIENIX. Her brand aims to express a beautiful fusion of traditional and contemporary Asian fashion trends with modern elements.

In 2021, Trinh crafted a striking collection of clothes and accessories titled 'Fragile, handle with care' to address the stigma of mental health in Asian Communities and the fluidity of gender and self-expression.

"I look at the major design factors of traditional Japanese wear, so for the kimono, it's the sleeves, and the shape of it, the silhouette. I take some aspects of those designs and I sort of make it my own," Trinh says of her inspiration and design process.

Ezglittergal 17 · TRIENIX founder, Trinh Nguyen talking about her design process

Trinh Nguyen's F/W 2022 graduate collection- 'Fragile, handle with care' CREDIT: Grace Kim

A piece from TRIENIX's 2022 collection 'Fragile, handle with care'. CREDIT: Grace Kim

Renata Liu & Jenny modelling the 2022 TRIENIX collection 'Fragile, handle with care'. CREDIT: Grace Kim

Trinh's Studio Ghibli inspired collection, 'Real Life Fantasy'. CREDIT: Oli - @endless.foto

Celina Samarakoon wearing her Kanzashi hat. CREDIT: Celina Samarakoon

In 2021, RMIT Bachelor of Fashion- (Sustainable Innovation) student and the designer/creative director of 'Child of Society', Celina Samarakoon, started her brand and began creating gorgeous garments, combining traditional Japanese and Sri-Lankan techniques, zero waste pattern making and genderless, ageless design. Celina describes her work as "looking back to move forward".

Celina's design journey started with studying at UTS in Sydney and then moving to Melbourne to study a Bachelor of Fashion (Sustainable Innovation).
"When I started to reconnect with my own culture and valuing my culture, so I translate all of that through design, cultural background, sustainability and design, all intersect creatively," Celina says of her journey to translate her culture into her designs.

Ezglittergal 17 · Child of Society founder/design Celina Samarakoon talks about reconnecting with her culture

A standout piece from Celina's collection is the Kanzashi hat, a traditional Japanese hair ornament. Celina transformed the traditional design into a stylish bucket hat to include her Sri-Lankan and Japanese heritage.
Celina says her first collection was inspired by the Japanese coming-of-age ceremony called "Seijinsiki".

"That's where I felt the most connected to my culture, and I wanted to capture that also across my designs to feel like I am always connected to my culture without explicitly wearing traditional garments." she says.

Celina says the hat was "inspired by traditional Japanese hair ornaments" and transformed this traditional style into a bucket hat to feel connected to her culture and allow for people in "my diaspora, the Japanese diaspora or even people who love and appreciate culture to be able to wear it".

Child of Society MFH Popup rack CREDIT: Celina Samarakoon

Indigo dyed Kanzasnhi hat from Celina's brand, Child of Society. CREDIT: Celina Samarakoon

Obijime skirt process and inspiration. CREDIT: Celina Samarakoon

Indigo dyed Kanzashi hat from Celina's brand, Child of society. CREDIT: Celina Samarakoon

In 2022, Australia's fashion scene is a tapestry woven together by creatives from all walks of life and abilities. It's full of culturally diverse models, designers, and creatives whose works integrate cultural expression, sustainability, and identity and reflect Australia's diversity as a "rainbow nation". With the talented Indigenous singer and songwriter, Thelma Plum as the ambassador for 2022's Melbourne Fashion Week, the week began with a respectful Welcome to Country and a traditional First Nations smoking ceremony to honour Indigenous peoples.

This year's runway included over 300 designers, including Ngali, Yasmin Jay, Viceta Wang, Buluuy Mirrii and Joseph and James. Diverse races, ages, abilities, and walks of life are at the heart of the 2022 campaign slogan, 'Everyone to the Front' with events and runway shows championing diversity and inclusiveness this year.

2022 MFW launch CREDIT: @ngali_australia

2022 MFW launch CREDIT: @ngali_australia

Australia's multicultural landscape is constantly changing, evolving and growing.

Around 50 per cent of Australia's population were born overseas or have a parent from overseas, according to the ABS. However, the Australian design industry continues
to have a preponderance of Caucasian models and designers at the forefront, and the inclusion of Australia's multicultural zeitgeist is lacking. With Australia's diverse designers and fashion professionals calling for more inclusivity and diversity, the question becomes, how can we celebrate diversity and ensure Australia's Fashion industry becomes more representative and diverse?

2021 MFW Plaza Ballroom runway. CREDITS TO: Sam Tabone | WIREIMAGE

Finale of the First Nations Fashion Design show 2021. CREDIT: Getty Images

Finale of the First Nations Fashion Design show 2021. CREDIT: Getty Imagestfit's retail store in action. CREDIT: Tomasz Machnik

There are a range of Australian brands, culturally
diverse designers, and creatives focusing on celebrating and advocating for diversity. One of these brands is a well-known and well-loved social initiative and organisation, The Social Outfit.

The Social Outfit, a Sydney-based social initiative, started in Newtown in 2014 with a vision of celebrating and fostering refugee and migrant communities and kickstarting the careers of these women in the Australian fashion Industry.

To date, The Social Outfit has changed the lives of many migrants and refugee women with free retail training programs. The organisation’s heart lies in its sewing school, digital print projects, and ethical, sustainable clothing retail sales.

The Social Outfit's workroom in action. CREDIT: Tomasz Machnik

The Social Outfit's workroom in action. CREDIT: Tomasz Machnik

The Social Outfit's marketing and eCommerce manager, Timothy Goh, spoke to VoxFrock about celebrating diversity and how the Australian fashion industry can improve its representation and inclusion.

Tim describes The Social Outfit as, "a fashion label with a difference and what that means is that we are both a registered charity as well as a a social enterprise, and we and our main mission, our main goal is really to provide employment for refugee and migrant women who are settling in Sydney."

Over the years, The Social Outfit has helped pay almost $170,000 wages to refugee and new migrant women across 46,000 paid labour hours and has engaged 460 refugee and migrant women.

Khalida, a former Social Outfit sewing technician, is one of many success stories.

Tim says Khalida came to the organisation as a sewing technician and got a full-time sewing job with the Australian Navy using the skills she learned from The Social Studio. "She is now making alterations and repairs to uniforms," he says.

Some members of The Social Outfit family in action CREDIT: Tomasz Machnik

The Social Outfit's retail store in action. CREDIT: Tomasz Machnik

The Social Outfit's retail store in action. CREDIT: Tomasz Machnik

He says Australia's fashion industry still has far to go, but solutions exist.

"Organisations and the industry as a whole need to be changing at the ground level, they need to look at every facet of their organisation, who they employ, but it also extends to what kind of models do they use, what kind of people they employ, not just in their offices but in their workrooms and retail stores," Tim says.

Another way to address Australia's lack of diversity in fashion, according to Tim, is to have "knowledge of what it means to work with people from different cultural backgrounds and knowing how to address their needs".

Image 1 credit: Tomasz Machnik

Voxfrock spoke to two other organisations, Fabrics of Multicultural Australia (FOMA) and The Social Studio.

Since 2009, The Social Studio in Collingwood, Victoria, has been a not-for-profit enterprise, showcasing the talents of refugee and new migrant youth in learning, creativity and empowerment through TAFE education programs and other programs.

The Social Studio has supported more than 800 young people in pre-accredited and accredited TAFE programs to get started in the field.

The social studio is home to an "over 70% culturally and linguistucally diverse team, with 1/3 of the team from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds".

The Social Studio's CEO Dewi Cooke told Voxfrock about some of the amazing work The Social Studio is doing regarding TAFE education programs.

" It's really a vehicle for connection and a way for us to find a way to elevate the stories of people from refugee and migrant backgrounds but also more than that, showcase their talent also." She says.

Image credit: The Social Studio

Another notable organisation representing Australia's multicultural diaspora is Fabrics of Multicultural Australia (FOMA). FOMA creator Sonia Gandhi started FOMA in 2018 and started a movement to facilitate change and remove the stigma from diverse creatives in the industry.

Each year, FOMA puts on a runway show dedicated to showcasing diverse global creatives and faces.

FOMA’s Faces of the FOMA program is about “sharing the journey of women and men who have done exceptional work in the diverse influencer space", Sonia says.

Faces of FOMA is an essential movement crucial to getting diverse creatives out of societally prescribed boxes and creating a holistic mainstream approach to cultural representation and expression.

A poster of Thurston. World's famous magician and wonder show of the earth

FOMA 2021 runway CREDIT: FOMA

An illustrated poster of Thurston levitating an Egyptian princess

2021 FOMA runway CREDIT: FOMA

2021 FOMA runway CREDIT: FOMA

2020 marked a significant shift in the variety of cultures represented in Australia's fashion industry. Since the BLM (Black Lives Matter) movement began, Australia has started to look closely at beauty and fashion companies, cultural diversity, and holding businesses accountable for their lack of diversity.

The BLM movement has also sparked further protests advocating for the rights of African-Americans, First Nations Australians, refugees and asylum seekers.

Cultural studies author Susan Keiser says this movement sparked a way of "showing Solidarity through Dress", where
protestors and allies used "t-shirts, face masks and other accessories to convey anti-racist sentiments in support of BLM".

2021 marked a national first, with Afterpay Australian Fashion Week having dedicated runways on Gadigal Country. This was with an array of amazing Blak designers and brands including Grace Lilian Lee, Clair Helen, Liandra Swim, Ngali, MAARA Collective and Kirrikin.

After two long years of the pandemic, the National Indigenous Fashion Awards (NIFA) returned to Larrakia country, with First Nations excellence celebrated in six categories, including wearable art and collaboration, bringing more talented Blak designers and artists to the forefront.

To name a few; Laura Thompson from Clothing the Gaps took home the Business Achievement Award. Ngali's Denni Francisco got the Fashion Designer Award.

Australia has also produced a range of culturally diverse models and superstars.
Including Duckie Thot, K-pop Girl Group BLACKPINK's Rosé, Catriona Gray
(Miss Universe 2018), Shanina Shaik, Nathan McGuire (currently a prominent name in the First Nations modelling scene), Tatyana Perry, and Samantha Harris, among others.

This year, Australia's Fashion Week and Melbourne Fashion Week, included a range of culturally diverse models, creatives and some designers.

Yet it seems like, despite more open conversations about cultural diversity in Australian fashion and increased shifts in the industry, there's still a long way to go and change is slow.

Problems facing diverse individuals in the industry include tokenistic representations of cultures in Australia's fashion scene and a lack of a fully rounded representative
picture of Australia's multicultural landscape.

Model wearing a dress by Buluuy Mirrii CREDIT: Aimee Hyde

Model wearing Asiyam CREDIT: Aimee Hyde

Model wearing Viceta Wang CREDIT: Aimee Hyde

Melbourne Fashion Week Urban Garden Runway 2022. CREDIT: Erin Visagie

CREDIT; The Social Studio

CREDIT; The Social Studio

PROBLEMS FACING CULTURALLY DIVERSE CREATIVES

Tim Goh from The Social Outfit believes some of the biggest problems facing CALD include culture shock, language barriers and the tick-a-box diversity attitude.

Having a "pick a box and this box ticking attitude to diversity is really the the big issue. It's not being engaged with from a meaningful, genuine place. " He says.

Ezglittergal 17 · The Social Outfit's Tim Goh talks about how to improve Australia's fashion industry

As Celina from Child of Society points out, the current fashion landscape is challenging when it comes to representing cultural elements, in that “it is hard to design things that are relevant to your own culture when everything out there is being marketed and centred around western standards".

Trinh says there is a lack of opportunities for culturally diverse individuals, highlighting the “need for better communication through the media” and how the industry needs to “address the issue of cultural appropriation”.

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

So what are some solutions? Voxfrock's conversation with diverse creatives and organisations found greater representation, inclusion, promotion of diverse voices and support is needed to create a more welcoming and inclusive
environment.

One solution is to focus on talent and ability rather than tokenistic representation of diverse creatives.

Celina Samarakoon believes one of the best ways to improve Australia's fashion industry is by "supporting creators and providing support from the top and the community".

"I think that shining a spotlight, an honest light on diverse designers that deserve that recognition is really important, and to do that in a non-tokenistic way but in a way that showcases their works, what they can do and not just because they're from a diverse background," Celina says.

Ezglittergal 17 · Celina Samarakoon talks about improving Australia's fashion industry

Trinh Nguyen says more people of colour should be hired and given "more power in production and design processes".

The role and impact of the media, and runway shows failing to adequately represent or misrepresenting diverse individuals, is also an issue.

"I think that's a major thing and representation in the industry and in
the media of culturally diverse people, more biracial, culturally diverse individuals, not
just designers but models, stylists and all those people as well," Trinh says.

Model wearing Asiyam. CREDIT: Aimee Hyde

MFW 2022 Urban Garden Runway CREDIT: Erin Visagie

Celina Samarakoon wearing her Obijime skirt. CREDIT: Celina Samarakoon

TRIENIX Creator, Trinh Nguyen. CREDIT: Trinh Nguyen

CREDIT: Tomasz Machnik

CREDIT: Toma

Reporter's View

So why is cultural diversity in the industry so important? One of the main reasons is that by celebrating and recognising diverse voices, we are opening a space to talk about problems in the industry from diverse cultural perspectives. It's a universal need to feel validated.

If diverse individuals’ backgrounds, identities and walks of life aren't represented in big industries such as the fashion industry, it can make individuals feel unwelcome and underrepresented.

The answer lies in the power of representation, inclusivity and acknowledgement. If we seldom see people like us and our cultural heritage reflected in the media, we feel alienated.

Similarly, people from different ethnic backgrounds can feel like they don't belong in the fashion industry if they don't see people like them modelling or designing clothes.

They may feel like their heritage, culture and experience doesn't matter, their opinions aren't listened to, acknowledged or validated and they have no sense of belonging.

As an immigrant myself with a South African and Filipino background, I struggle to find a representation of people of my background in the local fashion industry.

This is especially true when looking at magazines and runways and with my experience modelling and acting with an agency.

This inspired my desire to explore and celebrate other culturally diverse individuals in Australia's fashion industry and to discover and showcase their stories and struggles.

Australia's fashion industry must reflect and remain true to its multicultural claims about embracing multiculturalism and diversity.

Especially when the industry is still predominantly white, with tokenistic representation echoed on the cover of magazines and in runaways.

Since fashion is all about celebrating creativity, identity, inclusivity, differences. Our fashion industry should represent talents from all cultures and linguistic backgrounds to make Australia feel more like home to everyone, regardless of their background and heritage.