Grace Lillian Lee,

31, from Cairns, Qld – Developing Indigenous art into wearable fashion.

Raised by a creative mother and artist father, fashion designer and artist Grace had plenty to inspire her. But the biggest driver, she says, was her grandmother. “I call her a hidden generation,” says Grace. “She brought my father up identifying as Chinese and didn’t acknowledge her Torres Strait Island lineage. This made me have so many questions I wanted to explore.” Grace celebrates her identity through art and fashion, and founded First Nations Fashion and Design (FNFD) to mentor and support other Indigenous artists. Her purpose is to guide artists and communities towards developing creative work into commercially viable fashion. Grace has already achieved recognition for her work, has produced Indigenous art events in Australia and Papua New Guinea, and held workshops in cities and remote communities nationally. Her dream is to expand FNFD so it can support young Indigenous women to create small businesses in art and fashion. “I don’t believe we’ve seen what Indigenous design looks like yet. We’ve scraped the edges but have yet to see the full potential.”