Buluuy Mirrii at AFC (Australian Fashion Week) AW26: Love from Gamilaraay
Some shows open a fashion week, and others open a conversation. On the morning of May 11, 2026, under a warm autumn sun on the rooftop of MCA Canvas with Sydney Harbour spread out below, Buluuy Mirrii did something far greater than present a collection. Designer Colleen Tighe Johnson brought Gameroi culture, language, land, and memory to the first runway of Australian Fashion Week 2026, and in doing so, set a tone for the entire week that no other show could match. This was fashion as an act of love, remembrance, and cultural pride.
Black Star Rising: The Story Behind the Label
Buluuy Mirrii, which translates to “Black Star” in the Gamilaraay language, is the creation of Colleen Tighe Johnson, a proud Gomeroi Yinarr from Moree, New South Wales, now living in Tamworth. With over 15 years of creative practice behind her, Johnson has built a label unlike any other in the Australian fashion landscape: one where every garment is a living archive of Gomeroi culture, and every collection is an act of cultural reclamation.
The process at the heart of Buluuy Mirrii is as distinctive as the brand itself. Commissioned Gomeroi artworks are transformed into fabric patterns by a Gomeroi graphic designer, printed onto luxury fabrics, and then sewn into one-of-a-kind garments. Each runway show is accompanied by specially recorded Gomeroi soundtracks and voiceovers that tell the stories behind each piece, inviting the international fashion audience into a world of cultural richness that few labels can offer.
Johnson’s career highlights speak to a designer who has never been content with small stages. Her work has appeared on international runways in Melbourne, New Zealand, Canada, and New York. She has presented at Paris Fashion Week and attended the Cannes Film Festival. Her vegan leather dress “Bully (Black) Dreaming” was featured in the September 2021 edition of Vogue Australia. These are not the achievements of an emerging designer finding her footing. They are the milestones of a creative force with a clear, powerful vision for where her label is headed.
The Collection: Love from Gamilaraay
For AFW 2026, Johnson presented “Love from Gamilaraay,” a 25-look collection that was as personal as it was political, as joyful as it was profound. Celebrating Gamilaraay culture, language, land, waterways, skyways, animals, and people, the collection was described as an act of remembrance, strength, beauty, and love for First Nations peoples. It honored the resilience of the Gomeroi people, proudly known as Murris, through every stitch, print, and silhouette.
Drawing inspiration from the Mehi River and the skies of Gamilaroi Country, Johnson translated the landscape of her home into a palette that moved from deep umber and burnt ochre through to brilliant sunshine yellow. These were not abstract colors. They were the colors of country, of memory, of a childhood spent in Moree surrounded by grandmothers, sisters, and a community that sewed clothing by hand, attended local dances and debutante balls, and carried themselves with great pride and confidence despite having very little. Johnson has spoken about how those memories of kinship and community inform everything she creates, and in “Love from Gamilaraay,” that influence was unmistakable.
The Looks: Country, Sky, and Story
The collection was opened by internationally recognized Indigenous model Billie-Jean Hamlet, who stepped onto the runway in a strapless gown the color of a scorched sky. The embroidered train was alive with sequin emus and kangaroos, a breathtaking opening image that set the emotional and aesthetic register for everything that followed. It was one of the most striking opening looks of the entire week.
From there, the collection unfolded across a range of silhouettes that balanced cultural storytelling with genuine wearability. Blouson tops and cigarette trousers moved with an effortlessly louche quality, while crisper suiting retained that essential resort ease that makes Australian 패션 so globally appealing. Statement gowns punctuated the lineup, each one a canvas for the Gomeroi artworks that give Buluuy Mirrii its soul. Throughout the presentation, the accompanying soundtracks and voiceovers wove the stories behind the garments into the atmosphere of the room, creating an experience that was as much cultural education as it was runway show.
“NSW is my home state, so I am really proud to be opening in my home state,” Johnson said after the show, a statement that carried the full weight of what the moment represented.
The Setting: MCA Canvas
Presented on the MCA Canvas, a sun-drenched rooftop space at the Museum of Contemporary Art with Sydney Harbour as its backdrop, the Buluuy Mirrii show had a setting that felt entirely fitting. The harbour below, the sky above, and the warmth of an autumn morning in Sydney created a natural stage for a collection rooted in land, sky, and waterways. Presented by Create NSW, the show was one of two dedicated, standalone First Nations runway presentations at AFW 2026, a meaningful structural choice by the Australian Fashion Council that gave designers like Johnson the individual space and platform their work truly deserves.
Beyond the Runway: The Buluuy Mirrii Youth Development Program
What makes Buluuy Mirrii exceptional is not only what happens on the runway. Johnson’s label incorporates a social enterprise that runs parallel to the fashion work: the Buluuy Mirrii Youth Development Program. Operating for over a decade across Tamworth and Moree, the program provides mentoring, cultural development, self-esteem building, and fashion industry training for Aboriginal youth. It has diverted young people from negative life choices, reducing unemployment and other risks, while instilling confidence, cultural pride, and a genuine pathway into the creative industries.
The program has taken Aboriginal youth beyond their local communities, giving them opportunities to travel and experience the wider world through the lens of fashion and culture. It is a reminder that Colleen Tighe Johnson’s vision for Buluuy Mirrii extends far beyond collections and runways. Her ultimate goal is to establish a 100% Aboriginal owned and run fashion house in Australia. With each collection and each young person mentored through her program, she moves closer to that reality.
AFW 2026: A Landmark Moment for First Nations Fashion
Australian Fashion Week 2026 marks the event’s 30th anniversary and its second year under the stewardship of the Australian Fashion Council. In previous years, First Nations designers were presented in group shows. This year, both Buluuy Mirrii and Van Ermel Scherer received dedicated standalone runway presentations, a significant and welcome shift that allowed each designer’s voice, story, and cultural identity to breathe fully on their own terms. It was not a decorative gesture. It was a structural change that made a real difference to the quality and impact of both shows.
For Johnson, opening the very first day of Australia’s biggest fashion event in her home state, with a collection drawn from the rivers and skies of Gamilaroi Country, was a moment that transcended the industry calendar entirely.
Final Thoughts: A Collection That Cannot Be Forgotten
“Love from Gamilaraay” was not simply one of the standout collections of Australian Fashion Week 2026. It was one of the most culturally significant runway moments the event has ever produced. Grounded in over 65,000 years of Aboriginal connection to country, shaped by personal memory and community pride, and delivered through couture-level craftsmanship and a palette drawn directly from the land, Colleen Tighe Johnson reminded the fashion world of something essential: that the most powerful stories in fashion are not invented on a mood board. They are lived, inherited, and carried forward with love.
“Follow your heart, that’s what I have done,” Johnson said after the show. In the case of Buluuy Mirrii, that heart beats for Gamilaraay country, and the whole world is better for hearing it.
