“Us farmers, we love out land. Our bit of dirt, our slice of heaven. Our happy place. A sense of place” - Nguurruu Farm
Growing up on our family farm Stoneridge, we always felt a connection to nature. However something never felt quite right when it came to the conventional farming practices that rely heavily on taking from the natural environment.
Eventually we decided that we needed to change our way of thinking, moving away from the conventional farming and employing techniques that allows us to work with the land. Imagine we loved our land so much that we believed that it is our Mother, something so special and precious that we treat her like our family.
Imagine that we loved our land so much that we believed that every creature has story and Lore that connects us all and that our farming choices were grounded in the principle of connection. Imagine no separation between our spirituality and our farming
life.
Imagine we loved our land so much that we believed that each and every rock, tree, animal, bird and indeed the soil itself, has a living soul. Imagine if we valued our responsibilities to these living souls more than our rights over them.
And when our time on Earth is up, imagine we loved our land so much that we believed that we were simply going within, to return to the same land as spirits to continue to care for Mother. It’s time we turned to those who’ve always known. It’s time to open the farm gate and ask our First Australians to teach us, both practically and spiritually.
These ideas is where this collection was created from. Using the natural fabrics throughout the collection of wool, and silk was purposefully chosen. It was important that this collection was created in collaboration with our First Nation Australians particularly First Nations women.
“We are the fourth and fifth generation of our family to be the farmer custodians of Stoneridge.
Since we (Richard and Bernadette) have taken over the management and caring for this land we have come to realise that we are only here for a short time and that the land has been managed before us for thousands of years.
By changing our ideas and thoughts we now care for the land using nature as our teacher and learning that for the land to thrive we need to stop fighting against it.
Becauseofmyfour is a brand created by Amanda Hinkelmann. Amanda is a proud Indigenous women born in Wagga Wagga on Wiradjuri Country. Amanda works respectfully to be able to promote her culture but still be able to tell stories through her art. Her hope is that everyday more and more people can see the beauty and the deep connection that her culture has and that we can move forward as one nation. This is why Amanda was the perfect artist to collaborate with for Natures Threads collection. We were both born on Wiradjuri Country, and so she knows the land that I grew up on well.
Her love of the land and belief that we can work as one moving forward, is exactly what this collection is trying to illustrate
I collaborated with Debbie Wood to create the beautiful woven piece called Earthy Emu for the top of my hero body. She used ratten and enviro twine to create the centre circle and then emu feathers around the edge.
Debbie is a proud Indigenous women from Wagga Wagga on Wiradjuri Country.
Zimmermann
Zimmermann
Zimmermann
AZ Factory Resort 2023
Monique Lhuillier Spring 2023 Ready-To-Wear
AZ Factory Resort 2023
Soulland Spring/Summer 2022 Collection
Stella McCartney AZ Factory Zimmermann
Industrial/chemical farming has set agriculture
back many years and the connections with the land have been forgotten, today’s agriculture is about how much can we get out of the country, with no respect for what is left or what we are doing to the soil.
We believe that to fully understand the land we need to listen to thos who have managed this place for many years before us.
Madeline Page is an Australian fashion designer who grew up on her family farm in South-West NSW.
As the fifth generation to call this farm home, Madeline understands the value of learning from her ancestors, and drawing from the experiences of those that have come before her.
With this as her source of inspiration, Madeline highlights inclusivity and the natural environment holding these as pillars throughout
her comprehensive and free flowing design process. Madeline aims to emphasise the importance of land stewardship lessons, learned by her family, throughout her design. After being awarded the Wool Grant by the AWI Madeline was able to provide particular attention to Merino Woolnot only a sustainable natural fibre, but also holding deep personal connections to her family’s farming history.
We now want to involve the First Nation people in the life of our farm, listen to their stories to understand the connections they have had for years before us, and to try and learn how we can come to some of the same connections and be able to pass that down through our generations.” - Richard Page
Complete Works By (Design, Styling, Location Scouting, Illustrations, Tech Sketches, Model Scouting, Print Making, Pattern Making): Madeline Page
