An Albury designer and her clothes will both feature at a Melbourne Fashion Week event that aims to highlight disability inclusion.
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Nikki Hind will be a panellist on Access to Fashion, created by blogger and activist Carly Findlay, who grew up in Walla and Gerogery West.
Access to Fashion, September 1, also comprises a runway show that will include items from Ms Hind’s first collection See Me.
Ms Hind, who is vision impaired, said she was rapt.
“I don’t know which bit I’m most excited about,” she said.
“Having the clothes on the catwalk as part of Melbourne Fashion Week, that feels very, very good, but to be asked to be a voice that represents disability within the fashion industry as a designer at Melbourne Fashion Week, I’m so pleased, I feel really honoured.”
See Me combines silk and denim, which the designer said proved difficult because of the materials’ “opposing personalities”.
“They drape and respond to cutting, ironing and sewing in almost opposite ways,” she said.
“All the silk and denim tops and dresses are reversible and every piece is imagined from a walk on the beach to a ‘prestigieuse soiree’.”
Ms Hind created her collection in 2015, not so much as a business but rather a way of pulling herself out of a difficult period in her life.
“I was feeling really crushed from a series of traumatic events that had left me completely financially ruined, legally blind, single mum, feeling really, really crushed,” she said.
“I had no intention of staying like that. I thought (fashion design) would help connect me to the best parts of me and my confidence, my dreams, my aspirations.”
Successfully completing See Me sowed the seed for Blind Grit, formerly Blind Justice, Ms Hind’s project of athleisure wear created by refugees and other people who have conquered challenges.
In February she was accepted into Dreamstarter, an ING program that helps to launch and grow social businesses looking to make a difference in the community.
Another opportunity arose three months ago when Ms Hind was chosen as part of a group of emerging disability leaders to join a 12-month program run by the Disability Leadership Institute.
“That group, speaking with all these other leaders from the disability community, it’s been very validating,” she said.
“Just really interesting to reflect on my experience as I go through setting myself up as a legally blind fashion designer in Australia.”
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