Perina Drummond's Jira models is celebrating the beauty of Australia's diverse indigenous peoples.
This Indigenous Modeling Agency is Changing the Face of Australian Fashion
Perina Drummond’s story of founding her all-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander modeling agency, Jira, starts in an iconic Australian setting: a Melbourne tram. “I met my first model, Cassie, on one in Brunswick. It was weird,” she laughs, thinking back to cold-approaching model Cassie Puruntatameri on her way back home from Queen Victoria Market, “but it was such a good start to the agency.”
It was 2017 and the Torres Strait-born stylist and former model decided to respond to a dearth of Indigenous representation in the local Australian fashion landscape. Thanks in no small part to the tireless push for momentum by Indigenous communities, putting inclusion on the mainstream agenda, it reached a new urgency. Jira became the first major agency of its kind in the country, addressing a crucially underserved area.
“There were a lot of people–creatives and professionals—that were screaming for Indigenous models,” she recalls. “I'd literally pick up my phone and I'd have somebody on the call saying, 'I'm ready to shoot’.”
Four years later and she’s reshaping the mainstream understanding of what the instantly-recognizable version of Australian fashion looks like: sun, swim, sometimes exclusively coastal, and previously, mostly white. Instead, she’s mentoring young models, providing pathways into the industry and now, curating a landmark moment – a runway show that will be one of two all-Indigenous fashion shows ever on the Afterpay Australian Fashion Week schedule.
Presented by Indigenous Fashion Projects, a project of the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, it showcased today six First Nations designers from around the country, including Liandra Swim by designer Liandra Gaykamangu, Maara Collective, Kirrikin, Melbourne label Ngali, known for its swirling silken prints, and two more swim labels Indii and Native Swimwear. It drew on tens of thousands of years of history. All six designers will then participate in the Pathways Program, an initiative launched last year by department store David Jones that sees each label paired with an established industry brand for mentorship, then supported by seminars, workshops and networking opportunities facilitated by the retailer over 12 months.
With Samantha Harris walking among the models, and attendees including the Premier of New South Wales, Gladys Berejiklian and sporting legend Adam Goodes, she sees it as a moment of community where the growing number of creatives from a First Nations background, can work together in a safe space, in what is a model for the future. “I feel the difference when I work with non-Indigenous folks then with Indigenous people. There's just a different momentum and there's just a different way that we communicate.”
This story originally appeared on: Vogue - Author:Alice Birrell
