Ikuntji Designs

No Aboriginal art center had ever established its own clothing label built around authentic cultural stories. While others produce textile designs, Ikuntji Artists had to forge an entirely new path - navigating remote logistics, cultural sovereignty, artistic control at commercial scale, and fair royalties for artists, without a model to follow.That pioneering work brought its own reward: significant growth. But success created the next challenge - demand outpaced existing supply chains, requiring a move to specialist ethical producers in Jaipur, India, to meet the label's ambitions without compromising on quality or values.

A decade in the making, In 2016, the first designs appeared on the Country to Couture runway alongside a jewellery collection created with artist Kate Rohde. In 2017, artists worked with Batchelor Institute, producing the first clothing collection. Production grew steadily thereafter - from screen-printing in community, to ethical hand screen-printers in Sydney, to specialist producers in Jaipur, India, where we now print around 10,000 metres of fabric annually.A defining moment was the appointment of Anastasia Keshan, a Gomeroi woman, as creative director, bringing Indigenous design leadership to every collection. Community governance ensures consent, attribution, and benefit-sharing at every stage.

Ikuntji Designs exists to put living First Nations stories into the world. Every piece carries authentic Tjukurrpa - ancestral knowledge of Country, passed down through generations and worn on the body. This is fashion as cultural storytelling; art you can wear.The impact of that is felt at every scale. Individually, artists are fairly credited and paid. As a community, economic self-determination grows stronger. And for the wider world - on red carpets, runways, in film and on television - audiences encounter real First Nations culture, told with full authority by the people who hold it.

Wearable Tjukurrpa Every design carries authentic ancestral knowledge - stories of Country, connection, and living culture passed down through generations. These are not decorative patterns. They are Tjukurrpa, worn on the body.Wearable art Ikuntji Designs bridges fine art and everyday fashion, making First Nations visual culture accessible to broad audiences without diminishing its significance.Indigenous creative leadership Collections are developed entirely in-house, with design direction held within the community. Ikuntji Designs has worked with a Gomeroi creative director, ensuring that Indigenous creative leadership shapes the label's vision from the ground up.Ethical production at scale A decade of growth - from screen-printing in community, to Sydney, to specialist producers in Jaipur, India - now produces around 10,000 metres of fabric a year on premium natural fibres including cotton, linen, and silk.Business transparency Every piece carries full design credit and cultural context. Royalties and payments go directly to the artists who created them.Community-led governance A board of five Aboriginal directors - all living and working locally - votes on direction and ensures all profits flow back to the art centre, the artists, and the community.