Vebiz has been around for quite a while, and over that time, they have honed not only their grants specialties but also their business advisory skills. As mentioned in an earlier newsletter, we are involved with a First Nations couture fashion designer. She has had her work shown in New York, Cannes, Melbourne, and Sydney. It recently featured in a store on New York’s Fifth Avenue.

This is the Country to Couture Runway show, the opening segment of the Darwin Aboriginal Art Project, held annually at the Darwin Convention Centre in August. This year, I traveled with the designer, Colleen Tighe Johnson of the brand Buluuy Mirrii.

Arriving at 12.30 am, the only time planes seem to land or take off in Darwin, was a surprise given that Sydney still has a curfew after 11.00 pm.

Monday was for preparation—making sure all the clothes, shoes, accessories, and models had made it to the right place. There were radio and TV interviews with the local stations, followed by interviews with Vogue and ABC. Interestingly, this seems to have led to an invitation to be on the ABC Backroads show.

The following day was rehearsal, and since Buluuy Mirrii was in the second show, there was time to look around the beautiful Darwin Harbour area and observe the preparation for the massive arts show being set up in the convention hall next to the Fashion Runway Hall.

Twenty designers presented in two shows. Returning to the Convention Centre was becoming nerve-wracking as we were shown to our seats. My wife loved the show, but the humidity, even during Darwin’s dry season, can be stifling. She was quite glad she was able to join me on this trip.

The show itself was a great success for all the designers, with a wide variety of styles, including one designer who brings a culture of weaving and collaborated with a well-known Queen Victoria Building hat company. As I said, this runway show is attracting more attention each year. The models were a mix of professional First Nations models, many of whom have worked all over the world, some local professional models, and a group of models auditioning for their first opportunity to walk in a proper runway show. This is a great initiative, as it can be a hard industry to break into, and these models, men and women, were able to do it in a comfortable and supportive setting, albeit with high expectations for their performance on the catwalk.

The Buluuy Mirri collection was very well received as we progressed the commercial growth of the company.