jira models
PERINA DRUMMOND LAUNCHED A MODELLING AGENCY FOR ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDERS.
Modelling wasn’t the expected career path for a self-confessed “community girl” like Perina Drummond. The 31-year-old founder of Jira Models – a modelling and talent agency for Indigenous faces – hails from the Torres Strait, a place far removed from the fashion industry hubbub in Australia’s major cities. But growing up in a creative household, among family who sewed everything from curtains to dresses, Perina decided early on that she’d pursue a career in fashion. She moved to Brisbane to attend a boarding school at age 12. “Job prospects back home would be very low after school,” she explains. “So I had to make the hard choice to move away.”
A few years on, she signed to a Brisbane modelling agency, landing sporadic modelling gigs and winding up a state finalist in Miss Universe Australia. But Perina found herself wanting more. So, in 2014, she took the plunge and moved to Melbourne to begin a course in fashion styling. A chance meeting with a prominent stylist while volunteering at a fashion festival launched Perina into styling-assistant work. Quickly, she began questioning why there were so few Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander models.
“I started Jira Models purely out of selfishness, to work with more Indigenous faces,” she says. “There was this obvious gap. I thought, ‘How can I influence the industry to be more connected with the Indigenous community?’” She did some ground work, asking major agencies why they had almost no Indigenous talent on their books and, conversely, turning to connections in her community to investigate their attitudes towards modelling.
“What kept coming up is the cultural difference,” Perina says. “For example, there are some women who are not allowed to show skin from the waist down due to their cultural upbringing. This happened recently on a bikini shoot and I had to jump in – it’s a learning curve for the fashion industry.” She also found that mainstream agencies struggled to hold on to Indigenous talent, perhaps due to a lack of support and understanding for models who had to transition from life in remote areas to fast-paced big cities.
Jira’s strength is that it’s completely Indigenous owned and operated. Models find comfort in Perina’s ability to straddle both worlds – as such, they call on her to answer questions they feel too intimidated to ask a non-indigenous person. Fashion industry workers are also thankful to have a cultural go-between. “It’s not that I want to take over the entire industry with Jira,” Perina says. “I want to work with mainstream agencies, too. But we first need a platform for Indigenous talent to develop and take on modelling as a career, rather than a side job.”
Perina finds herself scouting models wherever she goes. She discovered her first while on a tram; recently held castings across regional Victoria; and travels to the Kimberley and back home to the Torres Strait on a regular basis. “Our community is great with word-of-mouth, so there’s always somebody who knows someone else,” she says. Pretty faces aren’t the be-all and end-all for Perina, though. Equally important is a person’s connection to culture. “I’m looking for someone who is proud of who they are – a leader who can drive change in the community,” she says. “Being from the Torres Strait, I know how hard it can be to find a role model.”
She’s glad she’s stuck with Jira, despite wanting to throw in the towel many times since launching two years ago. Like many who work in creative industries, she’s still holding down two part-time jobs just to pay the bills. But, it’s all starting to pay off. “There’s been a change globally towards inclusion,” Perina says. “The industry is excited that it’s finally happening.”