Sustainable Couture is a flourishing network of Australian textile artists and designers,
passionate about creating distinctive eco-fashion and promoting sustainability
Meet the designers
Franca Frederiksen
Co-instigator of Sustainable Couture and three-time recipient of 'runner-up' Wearable Art Awards, Franca is passionate about fashioning stylish garments from recycled and sometimes surprising fabrics.
Coming from a family of talented dressmakers, including her mother and older sisters, Franca is sure that sewing is in her DNA. She was 10 years old when she made her first outfit by herself, on her mum's treadle sewing machine. In the 1980s Franca started to design and make outfits under her own label, using a variety of fabrics, including gorgeous hand printed pieces by artist Barbara Butler. She found it great fun, but it wasn't until about 20 years later that she discovered the broad church of recycling.
An exciting moment in Franca's creative development was doing a workshop with funky Australian designer, Linda Jackson. A fashion pioneer, Linda seemed to have tossed aside the rule book. Not enough material? Add a contrast piece. Not going to see the waist? Don't worry about adding a waistband. Don't tack - sew across pins. Ahhh. she spole Franca's language and opened up a world of possibilities!
I t's great fun re-imagining materials and stimulating to be involved, through Sustainable Couture and the Wearable Art Awards, with so many creative people. I love the challenge of turning the likes of blankets and tyre inner tubes into chic fashion pieces and get lots of pleasure from seeing people wearing them, and in turn, I hope people enjoy the story behind their chosen piece!
DESIGNER LOOKBOOK
Philomena Hali
Phil is a practising textile and fibre artist, and as co-instigator of Sustainable Couture, is integral to the vibrant creative energy behind the group. After living in Alice Springs for 31 years, Phil and her husband relocated to WA in mid 2018 - retirement for him and for Phil, a sea change and reconnection with her family.
As a young girl, Phil learned hand sewing and embroidery from her mother and other Portugese women from the island of Madeira, where her parents lived, and so her passion for textiles was born.
Co-ordinating Sustainable Couture with Franca Frederiksen in 2009 fueled Phil's desire to see more and more recycled clothing being upcycled and repurposed to stay of landfill. Deconstructed garments become completely new, fashionable, wearable items that delight the wearer and viewer. Her aim is to utilise all of the fabric bits and pieces remaining, to make accessories or bags.
Phil is recognised nationally and internationally for her diverse work. Her pieces are held in private collections, museums and galleries across Australia and overseas. Phil also delivers workshops to young people, indigenous communities and to fibre and textile artists at national forums held throughout Australia.
I am ultimately content with a swatch of fabric and needle and thread in my hand. Creating is my life; sharing techniques fuels my passion for passing on knowledge. My workroom is my sanctuary and everything in it gives me joy, inspiration and a desire to create. I make because I love making - rarely do i need a reason - it IS what I do.
DESIGNER LOOKBOOK
Carmel Ryan
Carmel, whose idea it was to hold the Sustainable Couture Opening Night event in an aviation museum hangar, has been a part of Sustainable Couture from its inception. Over the years, Carmel’s creative flair and imagination has seen her fabulous entries in ‘wearable art’ events take out the top awards, both in the NT and interstate, including being a showcase finalist at Wearable Art Mandurah, Western Australia in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Carmel was one of the six Sustainable Couture designers who presented their well-received 'Edge of Centre’ collection at Eco Fashion Week Australia 2018 in Fremantle. She was also a featured designer in the event’s ‘Upcycling Challenge’: to design a garment using only men’s preloved shirts. Twenty-five white shirts later, she’d created a beautiful bridal gown which drew a lot of attention when on display and was written up in That’s Life magazine.
A long-time dressmaker and passionate about the environment, Carmel prefers to reuse and repurpose, and loves working with vintage pre-loved or found natural materials that 'come with a story’. She’s never far from her sewing machine and can transform the humblest op shop finds into red-carpet show-stoppers. Carmel enjoys making her unique one-off, slow fashion collections for the annual runway events.
I love the connection with like-minded designers and the event’s overall concept and ethos to be more environmentally conscious especially when it comes to the fashion industry.
I love the connection with like-minded designers and the event's overall concept and ethos to be more environmentally conscious especially when it comes to the fashion industry.
DESIGNER LOOKBOOK
Margaret Johnson
Marg, a core member of the Sustainable Couture collective, has a passion for the hand-made, which flourished during many childhood hours spent with her talented mother and grandmother, as they sewed, crocheted, embroidered and mended, creating and recreating beautiful clothes and homewares.
Drawing on this influence, and the magic of op shop finds and textile treasures passed on by family and friends, Marg continues this textile-crafting tradition, transforming textiles into one-off joyful garments, headwear and accessories, with timeless value.
An accomplished milliner, Marg has a great eye for colour, design and detail. Her handmade creations are vintage inspired, paying homage to traditional millinery techniques while bringing a contemporary, playful edge to her work. Her inspiration is the natural world and the ever-present wonder of its colour, texture and forms. She delights in finding once-loved and often neglected hats and restoring them or refashioning them to give them a sparkling new life.
I find fascination in the simplicity of stitching, and the connection this brings to generations of makers before me. I enjoy reclaiming the fabrics of yesteryear, recycling the rich stories they hold in their threads, and creating loved clothes that last. I believe that as individuals we can all take action to create a future with less waste – by living more simply and caring more for our precious planet.
DESIGNER LOOKBOOK
Liz Wauchope
Liz has been painting and printing on silk, making garments and accessories, since the early 1980s. She was born and raised in Alice Springs and returns as often as she can now that she lives in Adelaide.
Over the 35 years she has been a textile artist, Liz has expanded her repertoire to include screen printing, Japanese Indigo Shibori, devoré (burnout) and discharge printing and dyeing, amongst many other techniques, which have been showcased through Sustainable Couture.
In my hippy trippy days in the 1970s, my grandmother gave me her beautiful silk gowns from when she was a soprano with the Bluebird Choir in the 1920s. She was not pleased when I tie dyed them all!
Liz’s current focus on repurposing was ignited by her first foray into the Sustainable Couture Opening Night Parade in 2016:
It has turned my artistic practice around, and I now use pre-loved items as a basis for much of my work. I particularly enjoy Indigo dyeing, coupled with Japanese Shibori, or discharge printing.
Naina Devi
Liz Wauchope works with the wonderful Naina Devi, who studied fashion design and construction in India, where she lived until coming to Australia several years ago. Naina brings the technical and fashion design expertise and imagination to her collaborations with textile artists.
Naina went to sewing college in her small town in the Punjab, where she worked as a pieceworker for some time, mass producing sari petticoats and other simple garments. Her particular love was embroidery. She gradually became a noted tailor in her community, developing pattern making skills for new designs, together with the ability to expertly repair or completely reproduce a client’s favourite garment.
Naina and Liz discuss the designs for the garments and refine their ideas together, then Naina does the skilled work of sewing and finishing.
I was very lucky to come to work for Liz as a cleaner, because when I showed her some of my sewing work, my job changed straight away! We have been working together for 6 years now, and every day there is a new challenge. I am glad that we design new things out of old.
If you are interested in seeing more of Liz and Naina’s work, or wish to purchase an item, you can contact them by email
DESIGNER LOOKBOOK
Jen Standish-White
Growing up in her native land Zimbabwe, Jen began fashioning her own clothes as a teenager in the early 1970s. After over 20 years in fashion and costume design and a lifelong love of natural fibres, Jen migrated to Australia, a journey eventually leading her to Alice Springs. A radical change of career followed; however, in 2013, Jen’s growing interest in promoting ethical fashion through the sustainable recycling of old garments from predominantly natural fibres, sowed the seeds for creating her own label. Jen deconstructs, dyes, felts, paints, recuts, tucks, or otherwise to create the transformed and timeless up-cycled range of unique clothing offered under her ‘Lokathula Couture’ label.
DESIGNER LOOKBOOK
Anne Stewart
Anne is a maker, weaver, dyer and designer of fibre compositions that make use of her natural talent for wildly successful colour management and a keen sense of experimentation, revolving around the central tenets of 'why not?' and 'what if?'. Anne has long held a fascination for the traditional Japanese purposeful use of 'scrap' fabric and thread, with its beautiful sense of simple appreciation, creating form and function lasting centuries of use.
Formal training in her early years, encompassed hand sewing couture techniques, the technicalities of spinning and weaving a herringbone fabric then self tailored into a men's jacket fit for Saville Row and the mastery of embroidery techniques too numerous to count (to name but a miniscule portion of Anne's knowledge and experience). This has not dampened her ability to create a design quite at home with the edginess of Carnaby Street.
DESIGNER LOOKBOOK
Kate Fletcher
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Kate Fletcher’s driving passion is creating original clothing with the circular economy as its central focus. Kate, who lives in Hobart Tasmania, has been making and upcycling clothing for as long as she can remember and for the past decade has organised Sustainable Clothing shows.
Her main passion in life, apart from Aussie rules footy, is educating and inspiring people about wearing sustainable clothing and drawing their attention to the social and environmental impacts of the global clothing industry.
Kate loves collaborating with other people and sharing skills and ideas and regularly hosts darning days at her house. She is delighted to be part of Sustainable Couture again this year and this time she is collaborating with Anne Stewart, Kate Merry and Jane Easton.
DESIGNER LOOKBOOK
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Connected Women
Connected Women is an empowered women’s group in Alice Springs, featuring socialisation, creative interests and connection to existing community information, services and events. The group iincludes women from backgrounds such as: Kenya, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Philippines and Australia. The group has been meeting each week since April 2021 and looks forward to participating in the Sustainable Couture 2021 event.
Participating in Sustainable Couture this year are Mercy Wairimu Wanjiru, Sherry Haynes, Nghia Pham, Colleen Paterson, Maricor Tolentino Ortega and Elsie Solis Tolentino.
The group believes that recycling helps us all save money, become more resourceful, and adds new life to fabric and feel good about not adding to waste in the environment.
They have been working with mentor Brigida Alberti this year and through their learning together, have gained confidence and skills, enjoyed having good conversation, connecting over fabrics and being encouraged to think creatively.
This is my first time to be able to sewI have always wanted to learn and now I have confidence in sewing and using the machine
I am learning to be creative – to see things in a new light
The group members believe they inspire each other but have also been influenced by family connections in their countries of origin.
Sherry has encouraged me to learn as I previously lacked confidence to try
My Mum’s best friend went abroad to work and sewed for the princess of Abbu Dhabi. She was very good and could make a dress with a pattern and had a visual memory. She used to sew my dresses and school uniform, I always wanted to learn from her but I didn’t as I moved to Australia
My Auntie was a tailor in the Phillipines – making dresses. When I visited her I played with her sewing machine and used her good scissors, after being here – I now know why she used to get upset!
DESIGNER LOOKBOOK
Sophie Daniels
Sophie was Sustainable Couture’s first mentorship recipient, with her work being showcased on the runway in Alice Springs and with the group at Eco Fashion Week Australia, Perth in 2018.
Sophie has had a passion for arts and crafts for as long as she can remember. From making decorative bookends with leftover schoolbook contact paper as a child, to making clothes from recycled bed sheets and tablecloths, her creative adventures are always evolving while keeping a central focus on sustainability. Her fabulous handmade earrings brought her to the attention of the Sustainable Couture group.
At the moment, she is gaining inspiration for her sewing, illustration and object creation from the natural world, and the colours of the Central Australian desert. She has dipped into some eco dyeing, floral fabrics, and hues of the red, gold and orange skies and sand of Alice Springs.
As much as she can, Sophie creates from materials that have been discarded, passed on by others, found or recycled. Being very conscious of the meaning, impact and influence of our actions, Sophie has always endeavoured to share her values of sustainability with her peers and the wider community. She was excited to discover and then join Sustainable Couture in Alice Springs, and continues to implement the skills she was taught during her mentorship.
I am continually inspired by the knowledge, creativity and generosity of this wonderful group of people. I am thrilled to be involved in Sustainable Couture, to share my passion for op shops and creativity, and to continually learn from talented like-minded people.
DESIGNER LOOKBOOK
Hiruni Hettiarachchi
Born and raised in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Hiruni has grown up with a passion for design and fashion. She studied a Bachelor's Degree in Fashion Design from Northumbria University, United Kingdom (2012). With over 10 years of experience as a designer, Hiruni brings a wealth of expertise to her fashion endeavours; with that, she developed the inspiration to launch her brand, Lady Martin.
Lady Martin is a symbol of who Hiruni is as an entrepreneur in the fashion world. Her intricate designs are representative of the finest fabrics and high-quality craftsmanship, including handloom and handwoven work.
Over the past few years, she has worked with sustainable crafts like handloom fabrics and Batik Prints, which has opened her eyes to the sustainable fashion industry.
"I will promise that every woman will feel glamorous no matter what they put on – as if walking out the door is like an endless runway."
DESIGNER LOOKBOOK
Akansha Goswami
Akansha, who is from India, has a passion for fashion – for designing, pattern making, stitching, fashion illustration, printing and surface development. With qualifications in apparel designing and working experience as a designer, Akansha enjoys the creative process and using her versatile skills to play with colours and shapes.
Growing up, Akansha loved being crafty and making things her own. She would see something she liked and add her own touch to it. She was a big fan of DIY (do it yourself) projects and decorating her rooms to satisfy others or herself. As she got older, her love for these things just continued to grow. She created a ‘Pinterest’ account that inspired her as well.
Initially, Akansha wanted to pursue a career in Interior Design, but discovered early in her studies that it wasn’t for her, as she was more interested in the decorating aspect than the design part. Akansha took some time to rethink her options, chose Fashion Design as her career and is very happy with her choice.
As a designer I love creating original clothing and accessories. My main objective is to put in my best effort and endeavour in the fashion industry. I am very glad to be a part of Sustainable Couture, enjoying the process of designing, recycling and presenting something new and different. Imagine seeing people at a fashion show clapping for your amazing designs! Then you know you chose the right career.
Janie Andrews
Janie is a painter, textile and mosaic artist. Originally from the UK, Janie is now based in Darwin NT, where she instigates and coordinates a multitude of different projects using each media, working in both remote and urban settings. Janie enjoys the challenge of joining this year’s Sustainable Couture team and the chance to upcycle, revive and transform some preloved clothes into whacky hats and outfits. As part of this year’s program, Janie will be running painting, print making and textile workshops for the Beanie festival.
Peta Smith
An NT textile artist who designs and prints unique hand-made work, blending purpose and artistry.
A graduate from the WA Institute of Technology with an Associateship in Art Education, Peta’s work depicts the natural world she sees around her. Resolute in her desire to remain responsible for all phases of design and production in multi media, including weaving and dyeing (‘bush’ plants and dyes), knitting (including carding and spinning sheep, alpaca and camel wools), felting and sewing (hand and machine) Peta strongly fosters the value of using local recyclable or easily obtainable materials and processes including using ‘bush’ plant fibres and dyes.
Peta has spent her life working in the rural and remote NT with women from all walks of life, encouraging them to express themselves creatively and share their stories through printmaking.
Sarah Hill
As a Masters student in Cross Disciplinary Art and Design with the University of NSW, Sarah has been inspired by her interaction with a diverse range of lecturers and students from around the world. I enjoy stretching the processes of fabric decoration and manipulation by using the materials and resources that I have available to me. The results then have an element of surprise and uncertainty.
Brigida Stewart & Amanda McMillan
This fashion partnership was born in 2012 in the creation of a collection to celebrate the opening of the new Batchelor Institute Art Studio at the Desert Peoples’ Centre in Alice Springs. Since then, under the Forkleaf label, the duo has been multiple winners of the NT Wearable Art Awards and in the top 10 in the Emirates Melbourne Cup Fashions in the Field. Brigida and Amanda have also taken part in fashion shows around the globe, including the 2018 Virgin Melbourne Fashion Festival, London Fashion Week 2017 and 2018, Tjungu Festival Yulara, and the Darwin Art Fair indigenous fashion runway. They also hold an annual fashion runway event of slow sustainable fashion in Alice Springs.
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Amee Porter
Always dabbling in various art forms forever, Amee has only recently found her calling as a paper maker and jewellery maker after coming home to Central Australia and the million acre cattle station that offers endless inspiration. She is loving creating pieces of jewellery out of the paper made from native grasses on the station and other various materials and objects found lying around, and using a number of techniques to make her distinctive Centralian work.
Grace Skehan
Grace Skehan is a textiles teacher who has lived in Alice Springs hand is now a Darwin resident. Her experience in the NT has shaped her label "GracieDesignsNT" which uses a mix of recycled products, sustainable fabrics and Indigenous printed fabric.
I love the challenge of making old or secondhand clothes look funky and different. There is also so much fun in wearing a garment that you know is a one off. You never have to walk into a room and see someone else wearing the same thing!
Instagram: graciedesignsnt
Beth Woodward
Often accused of hoarding, Beth finds all things second-hand and recycled to be hugely thrilling. A ‘textures’ lady, and a tip & op shop devotee, she loves the prospect of regenerating furniture, clothing, homewares and general ‘trinkets’. Beth feels privileged to contribute some decorative ‘homewares’ to the Sustainable Couture pop up shop, made from preloved cushions, pillowcases, rugs and tip-shop treasures.
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Tahlia Rutherford
Fashion is currently one of the biggest polluters to our environment. Because of this Tahlia believes there are too many threads in our world:
I am trying to contribute to a society that begins to value our clothing and fashion choices once again. Clothes that you wear are worth mending, worth giving a second or third life too. I am constantly challenging myself to see what ideas to can come up with to utilise ‘scraps’ to get the most out any fabrics I come across.
For Tahlia, buying preloved fabrics brings with it such an individual aspect, you never know if you will ever see that print/pattern again:
I have learnt to love the pattern, and then set it free for others to love. One customer described it of giving her such a nostalgic feeling, like a mix between her big sister who she thought was the coolest person in the world and sister in-law who had a similar bed spread. Somehow it was just perfect for her!
Maryanne Munteanu
Since 2002 Maryanne Munteanu has worked as an independent designer. Her label 'Gathered Pieces' has become a contemporary design studio for concepts in fashion, interior design, textiles and art. The creations are defined by innovative concepts, as she combines modernism with authenticity.
The creative process for Gathered Pieces begins by draping recycled natural fibre fabrics, combined with machine knitted samples to see immediately whether or not the creation will take a certain direction or not. The freedom to play without knowing the outcome is very exciting and a very important process.
Shunning the six-month cycles of the fashion calendar, 'Gathered Pieces' aims to create garments that are timeless and enduring.
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Sally Hare
Sally Hare of Happy Hare evolved after turning negative and painful experiences into positive, bright, colourful opportunities. Using natural fibres such as cotton, linen, silk, wool and making one off items for many women. She had a craft stall at the Vic Arts Market – South Bank for 10 years. Sally now enters her textile creations into competitions to keep her interests and juices flowing and has passion, creativity for textiles, art, colour, design and fabric. She decided to go back to school full time to study an Advanced Diploma in Fashion Design and is in her third and final year.
Harriet Jakins
By day Harriet blends right in with the heels and pearls ‘ladies who lunch’ in Brisbane’s western suburbs. At night you’re more likely to find her at the rear of the local bicycle and motorbike repair shops, fossicking through their dumpsters for discarded rubber for her range of fashion accessories.
The only Brisbane housewife who does a weekly machine wash of bicycle tyres, she’s quirky, creative and the ultimate recycler.
The bounty from her stealth missions, combined with a passion for hoarding and an artist’s eye, has resulted in this range of hand-made fashion firsts – each one an original.
Simone Guascoine
The Op shop - a receptacle of redundant, discarded clothing and superfluous knick knacks. For some, a space to place unwanted goods; for others, like Simone, a veritable Aladdin’s cave. The juxtaposition of vintage dress patterns and appropriated clothing disassembled and reconstructed form the stunning outfits she creates.
Judi Bilkey
Judi came to fashion design later in life after buying a small gallery and selling her repurposed op shop clothing. Judi’s designs have grown out of a passion for recycling everything and her creations even include barbed wire and recycled metal sculptures. Judi has developed a real love of old curtains and linen to be repurposed as clothing.
Kerri Lenehan
After completing diplomas in textile design and printing, Kerri then went on to study clothing design and millinery. Kerri revels in sustainable couture, using 'duchess sets' which graced the 1950s dressing tables of her mother's generation and embroidered linen tablecloths with crocheted edges from bygone eras, to create sophisticated and stylish garments.
Marg Easson
Marg is a recent textile devotee, led astray from painting by the multi talented Liz Wauchope. With a strong interest in environmental art she has been known to turn her studio into a eucalyptus distillery in an attempt to unlock the secrets of the humble gum leaf. For Sustainable Couture 2016, Marg will use instead indigo on recycled Indian cotton curtains.