THE colours and culture of Moree were wrapped around the slender frames of some its aspiring models when a local fashion designer showcased her work in Tamworth last Saturday.
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The 25 teenage participants of Colleen Tighe-Johnson’s Miyay Mirrii program took to the stage in front of a near sold out Coledale youth centre to sing, dance and strut their stuff alongside blues artist Buddy Knox.
Ms Tighe-Johnson’s work began in 2008 after she returned to Moree after 25 years on the Northern Beaches as a way to build self-esteem and career pathways among indigenous youth.
Her fashion designs and youth programs took off after she was a finalist for the first time in the Deadly Awards in 2009.
Since then she has been a finalist on another two occasions and showcased her work around the world, including the fashion mecca of New York.
But though she is based in Tamworth her work is deeply rooted in Moree and its people and she maintains strong connections to the people and to the country.
“I’ve got one design called ‘The Steely,’ after the steel railway bridge, because for many years we lived in railway tents and that’s where I learnt to swim and put worms on hooks and stuff like that,” she said.
“The dress is has a metallic colour mixed with white the original colour is steel and white.”
Earthy tones traditionally associated with Kamilaroi culture are also prevalent in her work, but she said that her signature colour was teal, because of the artesian waters of Moree and the rivers she grew up swimming in.
“That’s how I envisioned our waters before they were really polluted, but I remember as a kid the water was really clear without all the chemicals in the water.”
Later this year she will travel to New Zealand, the United States and Canada.
In between the travel, Ms Tighe Johnson hopes to use the success of Saturday’s show to make it an annual event, and get enough funding to ensure her Tamworth venture is sustainable.
However, she still holds out hopes of returning to continue her work in Moree.
“This program was born here in Moree,” she said, praising the local businesses, council and the Aboriginal Employment Strategy for supporting her.
“I would love to come back, but after the drought, sponsors were hard to come by.”
Starting in Moree in 2003 through the help of local businesses and the Aboriginal Employment Service, the program was rolled out to Tamworth last year.