From Art to Runway in 9 Weeks
When Mowanjum Aboriginal Art and Culture Centre approached us to help transform six artists’ work into a 12-look swim and resort collection for Darwin Fashion Week Country to Couture 2025, we had 9 weeks, minimal budget, and only time to toile a few outerwear pieces in calico. No fittings. No sampling rounds. Just an idea… and our block library.
How we pulled it off
Thanks to years of development, our block library gave us a trusted base to work from. Each silhouette was built on styles we’ve tested over and over, so even without sampling, we knew the fits would work.
· Pirra, our designer, worked closely with each artist to bring their ideas to life through sketches and CADs. We helped clarify their vision and interpreted it into a cohesive fashion collection.
· Jess our Textile Designer helped digitise the artworks and made the artworks print ready
· The technical team (Mel, Amanda, Angela and Maria) assigned blocks to each design, made necessary adjustments, then we applied the artists’ prints.
· For swimwear, we made no samples - just block adjustments then straight to runway.
· For outerwear, we quickly whipped up calico toiles in-house using our blocks to stay efficient and collaborative.
Mereton Textiles printed and cut the fabric, and our machinists worked overtime to bring it all together: 32 unique pieces designed, pattern made, sewn and finished in a matter of weeks.
The result
A bold, joyful 12-look collection celebrating the work of the Mowanjum Aboriginal Art and Culture Centre Swimwear and resort silhouettes that honoured each artist’s vision, without compromising fit, quality or timeline.
The secret weapon? Our blocks. Without them, this project simply wouldn’t have been possible.
The detail's in the blocks:
See below as we take you through a snapshot of the design phase, block selection, development and final outcome.
This frill one piece started as a beautiful artwork which was developed into a striking swimwear piece.
Here we combined a One Piece and Bike Short Block which resulted in an amazing One Piece with cut out detail, highlighting the beautiful lilipad art work.
This show stopping coat sped to final sample with the help of our Long Sleeve Dress Block.
We developed these fringed pants from our High Waisted Pant Block.
We want to thank the beautiful artists at Mowanjum Aboriginal Art and Culture Centre for the amazing experience and for trusting us with their project.
Photo Credit of Photoshoot: Techstyle Studio and Juliana Pedroso
Photo Credit of development and runway images: Mowanjum Aboriginal Art and Culture Centre, Palet Theory and ABC News
