Samantha Harris: Living The Dream

Samantha Harris – the most celebrated Indigenous model of her generation – says the embrace of Indigenous culture by mainstream fashion is the biggest change of her 20-year international career.

“When I first started, I couldn’t even tell you one other girl who was an Indigenous model in the industry,” she says.

“But as the years went on, we’ve been able to showcase what we can do.

“Now there are Indigenous runway shows, there are so many amazing Indigenous singers and artists and designers. It wouldn’t have happened 20 years ago. Look how far we’ve come. I love looking back and thinking about that.”

Samantha has lived her lifetime in fashion. She was just four when she first set foot on a runway, at a shopping centre in Tweed Heads in northern NSW. It was 1994 and she was, she says, extremely shy.

But on the junior catwalk set up in the shopping centre atrium, Samantha fell in love with the idea of being a model.

“It’s a feeling you can’t describe,” she says. “It’s like I’m meant to be there, as silly as that sounds. Growing up I was the shyest kid ever – I wouldn’t talk to anyone – but I was someone else on the runway.”

Many more junior catwalks followed, and beauty pageants too. The shyest kid ever found her feet. Then, in 2003, a minor miracle…

Samantha Harris, from Banora Point, and descendant of the Dunghutti people, entered a national competition in Girlfriend magazine, and her world changed. At the ripe old age of 13, she landed a modelling contract with Chic agency.

“Growing up, I lived in a really busy household,” she says.

“We didn’t have a lot of money. My mum and dad tried their best. When I went to Sydney for work, I was still really young and my mum would say, don’t forget where you came from.

“Now that I'm older I understand what she meant more.”

Speaking to Sam Harris today, it’s clear she’s never forgotten her roots. She is refreshingly engaging and thoughtful. Passionate about Indigenous rights and culture, and still closely connected to her family, and her husband and their lives together in Sydney. To hear her talk, she still loves her job, but she’s not defined by it.

“I know who Samantha Harris is,” she says. “And what I want in life.”

“I know who I am. The modelling industry can be a tough industry, but now that I’m older, and I’ve been in the industry for so long, I know how it works. I don’t take things too personally. I know who I want to be as a person now.”

Clearly, the thrill is there still. Sam lights up when she describes her sense of liberation and elation walking alongside other Indigenous models, wearing Indigenous designers' collections at Australian Fashion Week.

“It was just, this is me – this is who I am,” she says. “I was representing my culture, in beautiful Indigenous designs. It felt quite amazing and liberating to be able to do that.”

Among the serene paperbarks and eucalypts on the beautiful Myall Lakes, Samantha is a powerful presence. She is the sum of the remarkable life she’s already lived: the 14-year-old who travelled to New York to shoot for US Glamour, the cover girl for Australian Vogue – only the second Indigenous model ever – when she was just 18.

But she’s also the Indigenous ambassador who took her mum to the Kimberley in 2019 to campaign with World Vision for improved living conditions in remote communities. I asked her whether she felt a responsibility to raise the issues faced by people in those communities.

“Not a responsibility, I enjoy doing it,” she says.

With an army of followers on social media, she’s become a role model for younger women and girls of colour, who see in her successes a chance at their own. She’s a favourite subject for high school projects and young fans seek her out for photo opportunities and selfies.

She recounts feeling nervous at the Indigenous fashion show last year, when she noticed girls in the audience pointing her out, looking and saying, ‘There’s Sam Harris’.

“I’m like, I’m not that exciting,” she laughs.

She is a fan herself, admiring others in the industry who she thinks use their influence to make a change, such as Whadjuk Noongar man and model, Nathan McGuire.

“Nathan is doing great things,” she says, “mentoring young Indigenous kids who want to get into the industry. He’s really aware of helping where he can.”

Samantha Harris’ role in this movement is evolving still. She sees opportunities to use her influence in and outside the fashion industry. If fashion can change to become more truly representative and inclusive, then maybe even more is possible.

“Yes, and the real change has really only been in the past two or three years,” Samantha says.

“I mean, the recognition has always been there to some extent – the Uluru shows were happening years ago. But now magazines are putting Indigenous models on their covers, and featuring designers as well. It’s so exciting.”

The world has turned. Samantha Harris is standing strong, just as she always has. But her example is there now, for others to follow in her footsteps. Not just on the catwalk, but in printmaking and design, photography and business. From little things, as they say...

Special thanks to Wanggaliyn Barrayga Dancers and Myall River Camp for location www.myallrivercamp.com.au

Written by KYLIE MORRIS

Photographed by PAUL DEAR

Fashion Editor LARA LUPISH

Fashion Assistant KIRA HADLEY

Hair Stylist ALANA JOHANSSON

Makeup Artist LILLY MILJKOVIC