Indigenous swim and resort wear house Van Ermel Scherer (VES) has presented its latest collection at Australian Fashion Week, showcasing a refined vision of coastal elegance, cultural strength, and timeless femininity.
With Australian Fashion Week marking the brand's first-ever runway showcase, founder and proud Larrakia woman Verity Van Ermel Scherer, was thrilled to display her designs to attending media, press and public.
Van Ermel Scherer pays tribute to the designer's late grandmother, Valerie Van Ermel Scherer (Mattie Frith), a survivor of the Stolen Generations whose creative legacy lives on through the house's signature kaftans and bespoke textile storytelling.
"I studied fashion design and fashion business, then went to work in the industry," said designer Verity Van Ermel Scherer.
"During that time we went through a huge loss when my grandmother passed away. She was my guide, my support, one of the most important people in my life. That loss shifted something in me. I made a decision to go and build, to create financial security for my future, for the children I hoped to have one day.
"Coming from where I did, I had to back myself and make my mark.
"Swimwear felt completely natural; it's in my DNA from both sides. My dad is a Maroubra boy, a surfie and lifesaver. We grew up in and around the ocean. And my mum is Larrakia, we are saltwater people deeply, spiritually connected to the water. So when it came to building a brand, swimwear was never a question. It was always the answer."
Based on Dharawal Country in Coledale, VES has built a distinctive identity through meticulously crafted limited-edition collections that merge luxury fabrication with cultural authenticity.
Featuring exclusive prints, premium swimwear, and signature silk crepe kaftans, the collection has been carefully curated to reflect culture in a modern yet meaningful manner.
Van Ermel Scherer also donates five per cent of all sales to the Stolen Generations Council NSW/ACT, supporting healing initiatives and ongoing community programs.
Verity Van Ermel Scherer said she had always wanted to create something "that lives beyond the beach".
"Pieces that take you from the water to a bar, to dinner, to wherever the day leads. Effortless, intentional, beautiful," she said.
"This collection is called Mattie — dedicated entirely to my grandmother. She is the heartbeat of everything I do, and this felt like the right moment to bring her fully into the light.
"The kaftans are something very personal. My grandmother was the original Kaftan Queen. She was choosing her own fabrics and having pieces made from her home in Glebe (Gadigal County)."
The collection is built around silk pieces; "fluid, breathable, designed to complement the body and move with you", Verity Van Ermel Scherer said.
"But what makes this collection truly special is a collaboration with a renowned artist who has helped bring our story to life visually.
"As Stolen Generations, we don't have our dreaming in the way it should have been passed down to us, that connection was interrupted, that inheritance taken. So I went searching, and I was lucky enough to find a beautiful artist who could tell our story through her work. To see that translated into fabric, into something you can wear and feel, that is incredibly profound for me.
"This collection is not just fashion. It is a memory. It is a reclamation. It is a love letter to Mattie and to every person who carries a story that the world almost silenced. I am so proud to be showing it at Australian Fashion Week. This is her moment as much as it is mine."
When speaking on Australian Fashion Week being her first-ever runway, the talented designer was thrilled to share this full-circle moment with supportive friends and family.
"This is my first runway. Ever. My debut," she said.
"Though it does feel like a full circle moment. While I was studying fashion, I volunteered to dress models at AFW. And now here I am, on the other side of that, with my own collection, my own story, walking into Australian Fashion Week as a designer.
"This will be the first time Mattie's story has ever been shared publicly. She never had the platform, the world never gave her one. AFW is that moment, her moment to finally tell her truth."
Verity Van Ermel Scherer said her grandmother Valerie was a Larrakia woman "who lived through unimaginable pain and yet what she left behind was extraordinary; Strong, independent women".
"A legacy of grace, resilience and style that has quietly shaped everything I am and everything VES stands for," she said.
"I want people to walk away from that runway knowing her name. Feeling her presence in every piece, understanding that behind this collection is a real woman, a real story, and a lineage of strength that refused to be erased.
"If the media and press can carry that story forward if even one person leaves that show and wants to know more about the Stolen Generations, about Mattie then we have done something that goes far beyond fashion.
"This is her moment. I'm just honoured to give it to her."
Looking ahead, Scherer is eager to see the opportunities for First Nations creatives progressively continue, both on and off the runway.
"I really do believe the opportunities are increasing, and I think that's something to celebrate," she said.
"Part of me wonders how different things might have looked if these pathways existed when I was younger. Maybe this debut would have come earlier. Maybe the road would have been shorter.
"I am a huge believer that everything happens exactly when it is meant to. This moment, this collection, this stage found me when I was ready. When I had the life experience, the loss, the love, and the story to do it justice.
"A younger version of me couldn't have told this story the way I can tell it now. So yes, I want to see these opportunities grow. I want the young First Nations girl who is sitting, quietly dreaming, to have doors open for her that weren't there for me. That is part of why I show up. Not just for Mattie, not just for VES but for her too."
Verity Van Ermel Scherer said her Australian Fashion Week runway debut "just the beginning, and I mean that with everything I have".
"The dream for VES is to become a household name. To build stockists worldwide and put this brand, and this story, on a global stage," she said.
"I want to come back to Australian Fashion Week next year, build on my collection, and continue growing what we are creating here.
"But beyond Australia, Miami, Paris—these are very much in my sights. To take VES to those runways, to those markets, to those people who have never heard of the Larrakia people or the Stolen Generations and have them fall in love with this brand and want to know more, that is the vision."
The designer said she "can't wait" to expand the range.
"There is so much more to come, so many more stories to tell through fabric and design," she told Style Up.
"This brand is the culmination of everything I've worked toward and honestly, this is just the beginning."
Through this runway presentation, Van Ermel Scherer is redefining Australian luxury fashion through a distinctly First Nations lens.
For more fashion, arts, culture and lifestyle news subscribe for free to the Style Up newsletter.
Sponsors included, Dharawal Distillery, Cerrone, Casa Capri, Laash (Kelly Marie Makeup).
