Lois Hazel has collaborated with Indigenous artist Lee-Anne Williams
WORDS BY ROSIE WATTS
Years in the making.
This week we welcome a guest editor to Fashion Journal, Rona Glynn-McDonald. Rona is the founder of Common Ground, a not-for-profit organisation educating Australians on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Rona is joining us for Reconciliation Week, which runs from May 27 to June 3. Read more about Common Ground and Rona’s work here.
Australian-womenswear label Lois Hazel has teamed up with Indigenous artist Lee-Anne Williams to create a unique print for their Autumn/Winter collection, Scrunch.
The exclusive print, Red Earth, showcases Lee-Anne’s passion for the Australian landscape. The design combines earth-red tones with tesselating abstract shapes and represents cracks of dry mud after a flood.
The collaboration is the result of designer Lois McGruer-Fraser and Lee-Anne’s shared interest in creating pieces that reflect their communities and country.
Lois is the creative director of her eponymous label, Lois Hazel, an Australian womenswear brand committed to making ethical and sustainable pieces.
A few years ago, she met Indigenous artist Lee-Anne as part of the cross-cultural collaborative project, Design Within Country. The project connected young people from Fitzroy Crossing with other city-based creatives and mentors to create a fashion collection.
Throughout this process, Lois was Inspired by Lee-Anne’s artistic talent and eager to partner with her again on something more personal.
As a proud Bunuba and Wankatjunka woman, Lee-Anne began her artistic career painting on boab nuts. She then moved onto screen and lino printing onto textile, which ultimately led to her work with Lois.
On the flip side, Lois says this won’t be the last collaboration she makes with Indigenous artists, noting that she’s committed to working with Lee-Anne and other Indigenous artists in the future. “It’s important to recognise the huge wealth of knowledge and creativity that exists within the Indigenous Australian community,” she says.
The collection release is well-timed, coinciding with Reconciliation Week which runs from now until June 3. This week focusses on strengthening relationships between Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander peoples and Non-Indigenous peoples, making the Lee-Anne Williams x Lois Hazel collaboration a neat example for the broader fashion industry.
You can shop the collaboration pieces, the Scrunch collection and find stockists at loishazel.com.
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