First Nations fashion is about much more than just clothes.
According to one of the people behind the National Indigenous Fashion Awards, the fast-growing industry is a gateway for greater recognition of First Nations people and culture more broadly.
"When we come together as Australians to make decisions around things like an [Indigenous] voice to parliament … people will have a better understanding," Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair Foundation Chair, Franchesca Cubillo, said.
"Because they've had those conversations with First Nations people, because they've bought those textiles or they've seen paintings or fashion.
"It is so overwhelming to have First Nations people coming from all regions of Australia coming to Larrakia Country," Ms Cubillo — who is a Larrakia, Bardi, Wardaman and Yanuwa woman — said.
She said the awards provided a platform for First Nations artists to showcase their work to a broader audience and provided economic opportunities for Indigenous communities.
"It is black excellence, it is unbelievably empowering and the lovely thing is there's … amazing economic return that happens as well," Ms Cubillo said.
"It means that our First Nations creatives have really clear pathways to engage in what is the Australian Fashion Industry, it's a $27 billion industry.
"Our aesthetic is ancient and tens of thousands of years in the making, but equally so cutting edge … that we are seeing it gracing catwalks … in Milan, London and in Europe, in Asia"
Arnhem Land artists at the forefront of fashion
Kunibidji artist Esther Yarllarlla won the Traditional Adornment Award for her Mokko (bark skirt) made with traditional weaving and knotting techniques.
Hailing from the Arnhem Land community of Maningrida, her work is part of a cultural practice she learnt from her mother and is now passing on to the next generation.
"I was starting from 10 years old, right back," she said.
"I'm teaching my grandkids right now. Telling stories to them."
She brought all of the artists from the Babbara Women's Centre — the arts centre she works out of — onto the stage to receive her award.