Red Ridge the Label shortlisted at National Indigenous Fashion Awards

Birdsville sisters Joyce Crombie and Jean Barr-Crombie, the founding artists for Red Ridge the Label, received the national accolade in the Community Collaboration category.

The award is designed to celebrate effective and productive relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and the textile and fashion industry, where First Nations Peoples' agency in the collaboration process is front and centre.

Known collectively as Two Sisters Talking, the artists' dream is to keep their culture alive through teaching and creating pathways for others to follow and share their stories, as well as through their art.

"From our Apical ancestors' knowledge, stories and cultural connections have been passed down generation after generation. Now it's our turn to stand up and pass this knowledge down before it become lost," Joyce said. "As Elders we have to teach and share our knowledge for caring and connection with country."

The brand was launched in 2020, and Jean said Red Ridge the Label was giving them the opportunity to provide pathways to bring others on the journey.

"It is an honour to be nominated with Red Ridge the Label for the community collaboration award, as proud Elders, leaders and teachers, seeing our commitment recognised and seeing our stories come to life as walking and talking canvas," she said.

Red Ridge Interior Queensland chair Andrew Martin said that while they hadn't taken home the prize, they were honoured to have been recognised as part of the awards, "a platform that embodies the very essence of what Red Ridge the Label stands for".

He travelled to Darwin to represent the organisation, and said the label had done extremely well to be in the mix with some of the most extraordinary ventures across the country.

"We can grow further from this experience," he said.

The national awards, which are in their third year, are a platform to celebrate the creativity of Indigenous designers and to showcase their contributions to the global fashion landscape.

They've become a symbol of empowerment and a spotlight for Indigenous talent.

Cr Martin said Red Ridge the Label's participation at the awards further solidified its position as a pioneering force in the fashion arts industry and how community can work together to achieve success.