The Urban Oasis runway was a standout during the fourth day of the PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival (MFF). Being the spotlight show of the night, it assembled a remarkable cast of leading and emerging First Nations designers. From newly established brands to fashion mainstays, everything was truly a celebration of distinctive Australian talent.

Ginny’s Girl Gang’s collection was defined by their use of denim with a dazzling iconic Indigenous flag on the first and final look of the show which highlighted the thematic prominence of First Nations design in this runway. Meanwhile, Amber Days, in collaboration with Kinya Lerrk, a co-creation of Aboriginal visual artists Emma Bamblett and Megan Van Den Berg, instantly hyped up the audience with kids putting on vibrant jumpsuits, oversized sunglasses and little colourful sandals.

Yanggurdi and Nungala Creative kept it simple yet unique by focusing on symbolic patterns referencing Indigenous culture. Cassie Leatham’s use of contemporary Aboriginal arts and weaved accessories emphasised that strong connection between the First Nations and nature. With a shared passion for Aboriginal patterns, Nungala Creative embraced with enthusiasm the LGBTQIA+ community in response to the Sydney WorldPride Festival through their vigorous play of colours.

Gammin Threads and HoMie swept the runway with pastel-toned and sporty streetwear. Unexpected twist: Chris Ran Lin had his own mysterious, flowy moment on the runway. These Naarm designers eventually challenged the future of unisex fashion through their sets of genderless looks.

The last set was Moss Tunstall, who continued to showcase pieces of painted canvas on clothes in bright hues recycled from second-hand garments. Tunstall’s collection further tackled the notions of social enterprise through upcycling and customisation.

Items such as cowboy boots, leg warmers, stockings, tights and silky scarves were repeatedly styled with looks that reminisced upon nostalgic notes from the Y2K era that’s experiencing a resurgence. It circles back with a fresh look that’s taking over the Internet and becoming the biggest fashion trend in 2023. Futuristic and retro, these collections are intentionally targeted to Gen Z and Millennials since the aesthetic is popularised through their practices over social media platforms. Urban Oasis celebrates a cross-cultural era of fashion.

Thought was given to presenting a varied and representative cast of models. The appearance of Tiwi model Cassie Puruntatameri and Wiradjuri model, triathlete and disability advocate James Parr is enough to speak for the runway’s focus on equality and diversity. Urban Oasis presents a multicultural Kulin Nation where no matter your background, gender or ethnicity, you are all welcome.

Each model looked like they had just returned from a rock festival, hair covering their faces and eyes coloured with neon liner. ELEVEN Australia deliberately chose the punk makeup to intensify the rebellious characteristics of the collection, synergising with the indie punk rock tracks that caught your ear as they played.

Set design painted a picture of playfulness and joy with a full set of giant pinwheels: a childhood symbol that represents a time when things were simple and natural, once again recalling the good old days from decades past.

Understanding the assignment, these talented First Nation designers successfully translated global awareness of sustainability into wearable everyday fashion, yet were still able to establish their distinctive identity with such diversity in their collections.