The story of proudly Aboriginal owned and led sustainable fashion label Magpie Goose can be summed up in its motto ‘stories you wear’.
The vibrant and colourful collections of this Brisbane-based fashion label are featured in an exclusive exhibition until October 5 at the Museum of Brisbane, tucked inside Brisbane’s glittering City Hall.
Co-owner Troy Casey (Kamilaroi) tells Streets of Your Town how having their creations on display is a pivotal moment in the evolution of Magpie Goose, giving visitors a glimpse of how they use fashion as a canvas for storytelling.
“The stories are not about time,” Troy says. “They’re about country and connection and culture and community, and these stories are both ancient and contemporary in nature.
“That’s what makes the brand so special is that those stories are grounded in country, but so many people can relate and connect to those stories of family and laughter and good times.
“What I’m really proud of I think is the impact that’s been created by this brand.
“The exhibition team and the curators have done an extraordinary job of pulling this together. And I can’t wait for all the different artists and community to come and see their work here, but also for all the audiences that come through here again reaffirming this positive story about Aboriginal community and culture.”
The Museum of Brisbane exhibition chronicles the label’s journey from a small community-funded start up in the Northern Territory with a vision to support First Nations designers, to its transition to Indigenous Ownership and moving its base to Yuggera and Turrabul country in Brisbane.
Magpie Goose is led by Indigenous entrepreneurs and owners Amanda Hayman (Wakka Wakka and Kalkadoon) and Troy, showcasing how they stitch style and culture together to create positive impacts for some of the most remote communities and artists in Australia.
“The impact for us is kind of twofold. The first is celebrating artists and their stories and providing opportunities for the broader community to connect with Aboriginal culture in a really positive and fun way,” he says.
“The second part is the economic opportunity that it provides for artists living in really remote areas.”
He says the design process is collaborative and different for each community they work with.
“Art as a mechanism for healing is so important,” he says. “Every time we run these workshops with artists in communities, the way people come together and share and connect is just amazing to watch. And then we’re able to transform these stories and experiences and moments into the beautiful garments that you see in the exhibition.
“It’s funny sometimes, particularly when you go to a community that’s got an art centre, they’re kind of like, ‘we know what’s going on. Give us the paper and we’ll do our designs’.
“And then other communities need a little bit of extra, I guess, facilitation. It’s not about the arts practice, it’s more about what story do you want to tell here about your community and your culture.
“So each community is very different, but also equally as rewarding as the other.”
Troy loves that their wearable art continues to create economic opportunities for the communities they work with. Ten years on from its raw beginnings, the business has collaborated with more than 70 artists from 13 regional communities.
“I’m wearing a Magpie Goose shirt at the moment, and we say, imagine if you wear this shirt over to a barbecue, they’re bright and bold and colourful, and people are like, oh, what’s that? That’s an amazing shirt,” he says.
“And then you get to tell this story of a place that no one’s heard about—this really positive conversation about Aboriginal culture that connects with audiences beyond gallery walls, beyond cultural centres and institutions and into the suburbs all around Australia.”
Troy gives us an insight into their sustainable processes, working in diverse communities from Queensland, to Western Australia and the Northern Territory to develop new and exciting collections featuring their unique stories of people and Country.
“The story that I always tell actually is about one lady from Kalumburu. Kalumburu has a women’s centre, and they were so excited about the opportunity to work with Magpie Goose,” he says.
“The financial impact that it made was, one of the ladies said, for the very first time, I’m able to buy both a fridge and a washing machine to have those two appliances working in my house for the very first time at the same time.
“You can equate a dollar figure, but what about the social and emotional well-being that that can provide a family or a community?
“When you see all the images in there of the artists and their communities wearing garments with these giant smiles on their faces, it brings a big smile to my face too.”
Co-owner Amanda Hayman also acted as co-curator of the exhibition, to ensure that audiences connect with the diverse and distinct cultural stories of their First Nations artists.
“Every Magpie Goose garment carries a story,” Ms Hayman says. “Designs are created in collaboration with the artists and communities, screen-printed by hand onto natural fibres and proudly made here in Australia.
“This exhibition shows how fashion can be a powerful way to share diverse First Nations stories, spark conversations with the broader community and create meaningful impact in communities.”
Thank you my ever supportive Streets of Your Towners for keeping me and Mildred the Cantankerous Kombi on the road and getting these stories that will now be kept in the State Library of Queensland collection for generations to come. As one of the librarians so kindly told me when I asked her why they bought the rights, she said that I had captured stories of Queenslanders that in a hundred years no-one would remember—what it was like to be a refugee, to be a struggling actor, or to trek into the Woodford Folk Festival. You can see how to access the State Library collection at the bottom of this previous newsletter!
So thank you all for making this possible!
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Love yas!
Nance
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