MumRed has taken out the 2025 Gold International Design Award in the Fashion Design category for Cultural/Traditional Attire, marking a major international milestone for the Indigenous-owned label.
The label is owned by Butchulla and Woppaburra woman Samala Thakialee Cronin, who launched MumRed following the Voice referendum after reassessing how Aboriginal women are seen and represented in Australia.
She said the moment reshaped her purpose in fashion.
"I initially launched my fashion label off the back of the voice referendum because I've realized that this country didn't want to hear us," Ms Cronin said.
"I realized that if we're not seen, we're not heard and they don't see us. They don't see us for the kaleidoscope of culture and color that we possess."
Her award-winning entry, Seven Sisters Dreaming, is a large-scale installation reimagining a sacred creation story through couture.
The work features seven sculptural silhouettes crafted from kangaroo rawhide, each representing a sister in the Pleiades constellation and reflecting the collective strength of the Seven Sisters story.
Ms Cronin described the installation as cultural reclamation.
"Seven Sisters Dreaming is a powerful installation that reimagines a sacred creation story through the lens of cultural couture," she said.
"It features seven striking silhouettes that have been crafted from hand soaked sculpted and stitched kangaroo rawhide each representing a sister in the Pleiades constellation.
"This installation is an act of reclamation and imagining of how we may have continued to adorn ourselves as colonisation had not interrupted our ways."
Each dress carries a distinct colour drawn from the rainbow, symbolising unity and connection between the sisters.
"For the Seven Sisters I used the seven colours of the rainbow to show that connection between us all," Ms Cronin said.
GIRA (Red Kangaroo Hide Dress)
Represents the eldest sister.
Grounded, firm and fierce in her protection.
Symbolises the burning of Country — the fire that clears, heals and regenerates life.
MURRAWAH (Orange Kangaroo Hide Dress)
Represents the Lore.
Connected to the Rainbow Serpent story place where he was struck down.
She now holds the Lore that guides matrilineal lines.
NARAWI (Yellow Kangaroo Hide Dress)
Represents light and pure energy.
Golden and radiant.
Carries the warmth of the sun and the joy of story passed through generations.
MILBI (Green Kangaroo Hide Dress)
Represents the Saltwater Turtle.
Symbol of story and survival.
Speaks to the interdependence of land and sea.
KONOMIE (Blue Kangaroo Hide Dress)
Represents Ganomie — the North Wind.
The light, cooling rain before the storm breaks.
A sign from Woppaburra line and a whisper of reassurance and movement.
KAIYU (Purple Kangaroo Hide Dress)
Represents Woman.
Mother, sister, daughter and matriarch.
The Big Tidda who carries sorrow, cleanses wounds and keeps spirit steady.
BULIMBI (Pink Kangaroo Hide Dress)
Represents the Butterfly.
Connects softly back to the masculine.
In Butchulla Lore, gave men the "shaky-leg" dance as they painted the colours of Country across the rainforests of K'gari.
BURWILLA (Possum Fur Cloak with Burnt and Blank Story Panels)
Represents the man who chased the women into the sky.
Cloaked in possum fur stitched with story panels.
Burnt panels mark memory scarred.
Blank panels speak to silenced voices and cultural interruption.
The garments were made using labour-intensive and sustainable methods, including extended soaking, hand shaping and stitching with natural sinew.
"You've got to soak it to make it supple enough to be able to pull it," she said.
"It was a lot of it's intense stretching - I had to puncture holes and tie them and then stretch them in between poles to get them in and translucent."
The award ceremony came during a period of sorry business for Ms Cronin, who nearly did not attend.
She said the recognition carried deep personal meaning.
"It's very surreal. I almost didn't come to collect it," Ms Cronin said.
"It means so much not just for me and my label, but also for any of our mob."
Every piece created under MumRed carries life and spirit.
"Every piece I make has something that lived a part of it, Ms Cronin said.
"Everything that I make at one point was alive and it carries spirit and it carries essence just like we do."
Ms Cronin closed with a message to young Aboriginal designers and women entering the industry, encouraging them to stand firm in their purpose.
"When you step out on the runway the only thing I want you to remember is that you are here because I think you're here," Ms Cronin said.
"A thousand generations of women birth for you to be here and you are meant to be here."
