CARING FOR COMMUNITY

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Inclusivity, Art, & Activism –
An opportunity through collaboration

Mind & Movement
The integral relationship at the heart of Nagnata's vision.

Founded on the philosophy of sustainably minded design, our conscious approach to design and production encompasses all facets of the creation process: care for community, respect for the earth, reverence for beauty, and integrity of material. Nagnata is all about connection – to the body, mind, earth, and each other.

Movements Not Seasons
A Free Approach

Merging the natural properties of organic and renewable fibres with technology and innovation, Nagnata collections continue to realise the studio-to-street lifestyle, blurring the lines between technical sportswear and fashion. Our ongoing exploration of sustainability as a culture extends beyond the materials and manufacturing of a garment. Nagnata is challenging industry standards and our responsibility as a brand by devoting substantial resources to exploring how we as a company can lessen our impact on the planet, support communities, and engage in meaningful action towards a more sustainable future.

Inclusivity, Art, & Activism –
An opportunity through collaboration

Drawing from our brand roots to look towards the future. Nagnata’s early collaborations with artisan initiatives in India signified the beginning of the brand’s efforts towards ethically minded entrepreneurialism. Our energy is now focused on home soil as we work alongside our First Nations people and take meaningful action through projects that give back to the community. By celebrating the traditional crafts and learning from the deep wisdom of Aboriginal culture we can work towards providing economic opportunity and empowerment through creative collaboration. As a fashion brand this involves creating opportunity through all aspects of the industry.

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OUR RECONCILIATION JOURNEY

2. RECONCILIATION

Building relationships: a path to reconciliation

At Nagnata, we’ve always been about more than just appearances. Real change requires real commitment and consistent action - and we can’t do this alone.

As a brand we are continuously asking: How can we contribute to a meaningful shift in the current fashion business model beyond tokenistic faces in campaigns? How can we create long-term opportunities through all areas of the industry for First Nations creative?

We believe the answer lies in creating real, enduring economic opportunities that allow for individuals and communities to become empowered and self-sufficient whilst maintaining cultural integrity.

Existing in a digital world can be a double-edged sword. While the many positive attributes of social media can be of benefit to creative businesses like ours, it also brings a new set of challenges. The downside of having your every move broadcast to a wide audience, is that taking bold action comes at the risk of criticism or being “cancelled.” While we value and encourage constructive feedback and respectful dialogue, we have no intention of allowing the fear of judgement to prevent us from taking decisive, meaningful steps towards reconciliation through our business.

With the help of our collaborators and friends, we intend to listen, learn and take action. We’re honoured and excited to be working alongside our cultural brand consultants Ella Bancroft and Nathan McGuire, who are helping to guide us through the process of bringing important projects to life.

The road to reconciliation is an ongoing journey. in 2021 we began drafting our official Reconciliation Action Plan as a business. Beyond the Reflect stage 1 of the RAP, we had already initiated a variety of projects in an effort to celebrate Aboriginal culture and spread cultural awareness. Some of the projects we’ve worked on are outlined below.

MESSAGE FROM LAURA 2

Everything Comes From Country - Children's Ground

In 2021 Nagnata joined together with Children’s Ground, a bold not-for-profit organisation, to support First Nations-led education and the arts in the remote community of Marlkawo in West Arhnem Land. Together we worked to raise funds to support high-quality learning and to enable artistic development within the community. This project was primarily funded using Nagnata’s ART + Activism collection strategy, which involved creating an exclusive line of organic cotton tee shirts with 100% of proceeds donated to Children’s Ground.

We raised $5000 and asked the people of Marlkawo how they would like to allocate the funds towards art, education and well being with the freedom to create their own community project:

PRODUCT CARE BY COLLECTION & FABRIC

“We’re going to use the funds for an art and women’s well-being project at Minmararma. We will start with an art activity to paint the container, bringing the community together, with local community artists and all the kids involved...

... We will also be hosting a tie dying art project with the women and children, creating fun and creative clothes and accessories with the Aboriginal and Larakia colours and prints. We will also use some if the tie dying and the bleeding for a Little Ladies group, where we will provide a safe space for young women to learn about female hygiene, women’s business, and healthy relationships.”

- Community of Marlkawo.

The artwork for the tee shirt was designed in collaboration with artist Keisha Leon, a Waanyi and Kalkadoon woman and founder of Leon Designs, a First Nations owned and operated creative studio. The film and campaign images were created at the Upper Colo River, traditional country of the Darug peoples. We then collaborated with model and emerging Indigenous artist, Mason Ping, who explored with us her connection to Country, overlaying our campaign images with traditional hand dot-painting techniques to create something truly unique.

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Our Work With Ella Bancroft and Nathan McGuire

Over the past year Nagnata has had the privilege of working with two knowledgeable and talented cultural brand consultants, Ella Bancroft and Nathan McGuire.

Nathan is an Indigenous model, cultural advisor, and proud Wadjuk Noongar man raised in the township of Gidgegannup, Western Australia where his father taught him how to live off the land like his ancestors before him. For many years he’s used his platform to address the lack of First Nations representation within the fashion industry. Nathan is the creator of ‘Mob in Fashion,’ an initiative which provides indigenous creatives training and learning opportunities across all mediums in the industry.

PRODUCT CARE BY COLLECTION & FABRIC

Ella is an artist, storyteller, educator, mentor and founder of the not-for-profit organisation “The Returning.” She is a descendant of the peoples of the Bundjalung nation and peoples of England, Poland and Scotland. The Returning provides a place for all women from all walks of life to come together to relearn the way of their past, to connect to herbalism, activism, motherhood, health, movement and deep connection to the land.

Ella is a pioneer for The Decolonisation movement and is widely respected within her community. Last year Ella hosted a ‘Decolonise Your Workplace’ workshop to educate our Nagnata team and create a culturally safe workplace. Valuing indigenous knowledge, reprogramming western ideals of success, re-learning our history, and re-writing the narrative were just a few of the important ideas we covered in the workshop. We believe that Decolonisation is a way to genuinely acknowledge the trauma inflicted upon Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is a life-long process of challenging conscious and subconscious programming, and taking action to become better allies. Both of these extraordinary individuals have helped guide Nagnata towards a deeper understanding of our history, connection to Country, and how we can be agents of meaningful change within our industry.

Nagnata Movement 010 Presentation Bangarra Dance Theatre

In May 2022, Nagnata’s founding philosophy, core inspirations and dream aesthetic coalesced in an event we couldn’t be prouder to present. In collaboration with Bangarra Dance Theatre, we delivered an immersive brand experience encompassing everything from an original movement piece to a panel discussion and collection presentation intentionally shown off-schedule post Sydney fashion week. Founder Laura May Gibbs hosted a conversation alongside special guests, sharing Nagnata’s journey through our RAP and sustainability roadmap, and how these projects will shape the future and direction of the brand.

The opening performance was choreographed exclusively for Nagnata by the incomparable Waangenga Blanco, former lead choreographer and principle dancer who made his return to Bangarra for the special event. We recruited many of our hard-working backstage assistants from Nathan McGuire’s mentorship program, Mob in Fashion. We will also showcase the talents of Cassie Leatham an Indigenous jewellery designer and founder of Yanggurdi.

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Our future vision: the road to empowerment

From day one, Nagnata’s focus has been on implementing fair, ethical and supportive processes throughout design and production.

We plan to move through all stages of the RAP framework and intentionally and thoughtfully build upon our foundational projects to create a robust framework within our own Nagnata business model.

Together with Ella, Nathan and our shared communities we have big dreams to create cultural art projects on Bundjalung Country, connecting with local community and artisans to translate traditional crafts into a contemporary context.

Our long-term vision is for Nagnata to provide ongoing work for artists through the creation of exclusive designs for the brand. Having handmade, ethical products made on Country using natural resources and ancient knowledge is our way of helping to create a thriving economic ecosystem. Empowerment is key.

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PRODUCT CARE BY COLLECTION & FABRIC

INCLUSIVITY

SAMA

Nagnata SAMA styles are fluid and not tied to gender identities; they are staples of the Nagnata uniform - and designed to share. SAMA continues to realise the Nagnata studio to street lifestyle blurring the lines between technical wear and fashion. Offering a safe space where people can be and become themselves. Empowering and creating more freedom of expression for each other.

PRODUCT CARE BY COLLECTION & FABRIC

"Art and activism, fashion and fairness, beauty and purpose - bridging the gap between these ideas has been my intention since founding Nagnata in 2015."

A MESSAGE FROM NAGNATA FOUNDER, LAURA MAY

My vision was, and still is, to create a multi-faceted platform that contributes to a more sustainable business model within the fashion industry. At every juncture, our consideration as a company has been supporting and nurturing the people we work with, from our very first collaboration with local artisans on fair trade collections throughout India, through to our close relationships with suppliers and our local community. Our energy is now focused on home soil as we work alongside our First Nations people and take meaningful action through projects that give back to the community.

BY EDITS

BY CATEGORY

TANKS

VESTS

BY COLLECTION

MOVEMENT 13 SAMA

MOVEMENT 13 CORE

MOVEMENT 12

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