JULIE Appo’s passion for fashion design began at a very early age. Years later, it has become the main driving force for her most recent work in Indigenous textile design and fashion.
“I clearly remember as a five-year-old spending hours sewing tiny dresses for dolls that I didn’t even own,” she said.
“I would create the dresses from fabric scraps left over from garments Mum made for us. She used to hand-sew our clothes, even our school uniforms.”
Julie discovered she had a knack for drawing when she was about seven. Even then she knew she wanted to go to art college and become a fashion designer. But with seven siblings, it was out of the question and she joined the workforce.
Nevertheless, fashion continued to tug at her heartstrings and in her early 30s she decided to follow her dreams.
And while it wasn’t easy returning to “school life”, she completed her studies in fashion design. Later she gained a further two degrees in the visual arts and is mainly self-taught in graphic design.
Julie recently developed the Fashioning our Futures project, which has provided a new and innovative method of textile design.
“I wanted to develop a more cost-effective way to print fabric instead of the labour-intensive processes already in operation,” she said.
As part of this year’s Bundaberg Crush Festival, Julie will host Dambali First Nations Garment Exhibition and Forum on October 6.
The free event is the culmination of two years’ work helping Indigenous artists develop skills to use their art for fabric printing.
The event at the School of Arts in Bourbong Street from 5.30-7pm will showcase Julie’s work as a fashion designer and her students’ textile designs and celebrate the creation of wearable art.
Revel in the arts, Bundaberg style
BUNDABERG’S annual arts event, Crush Festival, returns from October 6-15 to celebrate the region’s thriving arts scene.
Ten days of arts and cultural events will offer everything from breathtaking acrobatics by circus troupe Circa to live music from Australian rockers Moving Pictures, sand sculptures by the sea, and the WriteFest literary
festival, featuring authors including human rights advocate Arnold Zable.
The festival’s centrepiece, Crush Carnivale, will be an agricultural-themed extravaganza of entertainment and culture on October 7, with music, circus and roving street performers.
A grand singalong will ensue when the 40-odd voices of the local Pub Rock Choir soar across the carnivale area.
With members from all walks of life, the choir welcomes everyone to join in as they belt out pub classics such as John Farnham’s You’re The Voice and The Beatles’ Hey Jude.
