Vogue Australia May 2022

Every Vogue cover is special but not every one has the power to mark history like this month’s does. There have been many covers I am particularly proud of: celebrating our 60th anniversary in 2019; Betty Muffler’s beautiful painting Ngangkaṟi Ngura for our ‘hope’ cover in 2020; and Magnolia Maymuru and her baby daughter celebrating ‘new beginnings’, heralded by an Australian sunrise in 2021. When I first worked at Vogue in the 1990s, Elaine George’s 1993 cover made national news. As the first Aboriginal woman to feature on Vogue, the 17-year-old became a household name overnight. After featuring in other press, magazines, and a celebrity race at the Australian Grand Prix alongside her hero Cathy Freeman, she briefly took herself to the US to model, before returning to a job in Cairns where…

Djirri Desmond-Webb “It’s been the most incredible experience, there’s just overwhelming gratitude,” says 22-year-old Djirri Desmond-Webb of her time shadowing stylist Ana Keshan, who was tasked with dressing models Charlee Fraser, Cindy Rostron, Elaine George and Magnolia Maymuru for the cover of this issue. As part of the First Nations Fashion + Design Shadow Program, Desmond-Webb joined a number of other participants on set at Malabar Beach, where she learned from the best in the business. “I feel really safe, really supported here. Everyone’s working together. I think we’re all learning from each other, too,” she adds. Jess Ruby James Sydney-based photographer Jess Ruby James’s very first experience working with Vogue Australia saw the creative capture this issue’s cover, featuring Fraser, Rostron, George and Maymuru on Bidjigal Land at Malabar Beach. “Our first…

ATONG ATEM Though Atong Atem has been honing her artistic practice for years, the past six months have represented a stratospheric rise for the Ethiopia-born, Melbourne-based artist. Known for her striking portraiture and use of vivid fabrics that reframe the mechanics of colonialism in Africa (see page 138), in March this year, Atem became the winner of the inaugural La Prairie Art Award, which, in partnership with the Art Gallery of New South Wales and Vogue Australia, aims to create a global platform for female contemporary artists. “For me, that concept of culture, lineage and identity being something inherited, is what’s drawn me to wanting to participate in an art history [of Africa] that I feel deeply connected to, despite being someone who lives here in Australia,” she explains. As an artist,…

All that morphed into the stuff of nightmares as we flew into the eye of the storm For this expat Australian living in London, Covid magnified isolation, warped time and fuelled a desperate need to see loved ones back home. I dug deep into inner reserves of patience and counted down the days. Confined in North London, our nuclear family became a well-oiled quarantine machine, months passed in a groundhog blur of work from home, school from home, Netflix and banana bread. I turned my hand to book reviews, poetry and wrote short stories about an arsonist who communicates with chickens, as one by one, our travel plans crumbled to dust. I got Covid early on, and then long Covid to boot. Subsequent lockdowns followed that first Sourdough Spring, laying waste…

ROMANCE WAS BORN In the spirit of collaboration, fearless Australian label Romance Was Born has incorporated prints from Australian artist Lara Merrett to create the watercolour-print dresses in its autumn/winter ’22/’23 collection. “We’ve been wanting to work with Lara for two years now and waiting for the right time – I’m so excited to see our vision come to life,” says designer Luke Sales. ESSE STUDIOS Esse Studios designer Charlotte Hicks creates timeless pieces that are intended to synchronise with older ones, creating building blocks for a forever wardrobe. Hicks says her brand’s appeal in the market is “a subtler one, a quiet moment for my customer,” adding, “I hope it speaks volumes because of how it makes them feel.” IORDANES SPYRIDON GOGOS AND JENNY KEE A collaboration between designers Jordan Gogos and Jenny Kee,…

SHORE THING Out of-office textures, playful prints and bursts of colour anchor the surf-meets street cool that has come of age along our coasts. As the weather turns, just add denim for trans seasonal effect. Editor’s tip: “Look to brands like Double Rainbouu and Commas, the men’s label with a legion of female fans, which tap into a rich vein of off-duty understatement in breezy short sleeve bowling shirts asking to be rippled by an ocean breeze.” – KAILA MATTHEWS, FASHION AND MARKET EDITOR BASIC INSTINCT The laidback antipodean attitude defines our brand of elevated minimalism – one that melds natural textures and a neutral colour palette for wearable, uncomplicated polish. Editor’s tip: “This is Australian design pragmatism at its best – clothing for modern life with versatility being key, like a sculptural midi-dress that can shift from…