Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) has announced a striking new venue for one of Australia's most unique First Nations fashion events, revealing the 2026 CIAF Fashion Performance will take place at a historic timber mill on Yirrganydji Country in Stratford, Gimuy/Cairns.
The newly branded CIAF Fashion Performances at The Mill will feature 25 designers - the largest line-up in CIAF fashion history - including, for the first time, international collections from three Indigenous Taiwanese designers and a guest designer from Indigenous Fashion Week New York, presenting two immersive performances responding to the theme Reclamation & Regeneration.
Tickets are now available for the matinee and premiere performances on Thursday 9 and Friday 10 July, with CIAF also revealing the judging panel for the inaugural CIAF Fashion: Textile & Design Awards.
The CIAF Fashion Performance brings together Queensland First Nations designers, models, dancers, and musicians in a powerful intersection of culture, art, and contemporary design, blending fashion, movement, storytelling, digital projections, and cultural programming.
Queensland Minister for the Arts, John-Paul Langbroek, said Aboriginal and Zenadth Kes/Torres Strait Islander fashion and textile designers in Queensland are sharing their creative talent with growing national and international audiences and markets.
"The Crisafulli Government proudly supports CIAF to showcase the incredible work of Indigenous artists and designers, providing Queenslanders and visitors with opportunities to engage with unique cultural experiences and purchase high quality work," he said.
"CIAF's vibrant program helps deliver on Queensland's Time to Shine, our 10-year strategy for arts and culture, by maximising economic opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creatives and reinforcing Queensland's reputation as a vibrant cultural destination."
Each performance will run for 75 minutes, reflecting the program's expanded scale, which has grown from 12 designers in previous years.
CIAF fashion curator Lynelle Flinders said the program embodies the strength and diversity of First Nations storytelling through fashion.
"This year's fashion program brings together designers from across Queensland who are sharing stories of Reclamation and Regeneration - from climate resilience and connection to land to personal journeys of healing and identity," she said.
"Across the program, designers amplify their perspectives through creativity, using fashion to honour cultural knowledge, challenge assumptions and express lived experiences.
"Together, they create a powerful collective narrative where fashion becomes a space for imagining new futures guided by First Nations voices."
Model Winifred Massey (garments featuring the frigate bird/wada by Lisa Lui) with designer Lisa Lui. (Image: Cristina Bevilacqua for CIAF)
Building on this exchange, the program welcomes three Indigenous Taiwanese designers, connecting First Nations cultures and expanding CIAF's reach across the Asia-Pacific.
The CIAF 2026 fashion program features designers and collectives from across Queensland and beyond, including Kerry Klimm; Deadly Creative Sistas; Trinity Bay High School; Kuku Bulkaway Arts; Irene Olive Adams; Girringun Art Centre; Pumicestone Indigenous Education & Employment Council (PIEEC); Badu Art Centre; Delvene Cockatoo-Collins; Sandra and Shara Delaney; Lisa Lui; Felicity Chapman; Amanda Hayman (Magpie Goose); Amy (Wudan) Neal; TAFE Cultural Arts; Nicole Chatfield; Francoise Lane; Samala Cronin; Yarrabah Art Centre; and international guest designers. Korina Emmerich & Liana Shewey (Relative Arts, New York) alapiyac Parucunuq / JUAN CHIH CHIN (Taiwan), Sigesile Kalidoai / LIN CHUN HSIANG (Taiwan), and Yuma Taru (Taiwan).
The 2026 program will also introduce the CIAF Fashion: Textile & Design Awards, which will recognise excellence in First Nations textile design and innovation.
The awards offer $20,000 in prize money across three categories: Textile Innovation Award - $10,000; Sustainable Adornment Award - $5,000, and Cultural Couture Award - $5,000.
Supported by QIC, the awards celebrate designers who combine cultural storytelling, craftsmanship and contemporary design practice.
Winners to be announced on Friday, July 10 at the Awards Ceremony between Show 1 and Show 2.
CIAF has also confirmed the judging panel for the inaugural awards will comprise Founder and Creative Director of 'Studio Shonae', Shonae Hobson, Multidisciplinary First Nations practitioner Luke Currie-Richardson and CIAF's very own Fashion Curator, Lynelle Flinders.
The judges will assess collections across criteria, including cultural narrative, design innovation, technical excellence and sustainability.
The 2026 program will also be documented by Pandamonium Films, a Gimuy/Cairns-based all-female First Nations production company, which is producing a fashion documentary following designers behind the scenes as they prepare their runway collections.
In addition to the fashion performances, the Friday evening program will feature a vibrant red-carpet arrival and roving interviews hosted by the CIAF 2026 Ambassador team, digital projections throughout the mill precinct, and the People, Culture & Country exhibition, showcasing mannequin displays of garments created by fashion and textile students from across North Queensland.
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