Teagan Cowlishaw is basking in the glow of another triumph.
As the National Coordinator of First Nations Fashion + Design, the Nyikina, Bardi and Nyul Nyul woman has just overseen the successful second outing of the Indigenous runway at Australian Fashion Week.
Given the watershed moment in fashion that was last year's inaugural event, expectations were high for Friday's showing.
"Absolutely, there was an incredible vibe down there," she told NITV News.
"Not only did you have the hype from last year's crew, but a whole new crew was getting excited by that hype."
A standing ovation from a tearful crowd at the end of the evening left few in any doubt those expectations had been met.
No small part of the credit is due to Ms Cowlishaw: not only did she help organise the event, but she created one of the runway's truly showstopping moments.
The suit was the work of many hours hand sewing. Source: Getty Images AsiaPac
Elaine George, the first Aboriginal model ever to grace the cover of Vogue, took to the runway in a gold sequin trouser suit designed by Ms Cowlishaw in collaboration with Lara Kovacevich of Zhivago, who brought her trademark couture glamour.
No mean feat, the suit was adorned with literally thousands of crystals, and splashed across the blazer's back was the Swarovski-encrusted word "Deadly".
"The amount of hours and manpower that was put into this beauty! Me and Lara are incredibly proud of it."
"It taught me to hand-sew sequins and how to do individual Swarovski jewels... it was next level."
The meaning behind the suit is just as arresting.
"Deadly" splashed across the back of the AARLI x Zhivago suit. Source: Getty Images AsiaPac
The runway this year took 'Our Islands, Our Home' as its philosophy, celebrating and elevating the cultures and peoples of the Torres Strait, while also highlighting the ever-increasing challenges of climate change.
"On my Country, being a Kimberly girl, one thing that is very prominent back in Broome is our fishing," Ms Cowlishaw said
"I thought about how dependant that is on the Moon because the Moon controls the tides."
"[But] I didn't want to go quite literal, with blues and greens for saltwater, so I went for the reflection of the moon at nighttime.
"When I was growing up in Broome, there was the Stairway to Heaven that only happens when the tide is out and the Moon is full.
"Caring for beautiful Country like that, that is being affected by climate change, was the inspiration."
Ms Cowlishaw says her roots are ever-present in her work. Family and culture are an important part of her practice, and she attributes her start and success in fashion to her mother's influence growing up.
"100 per cent, I would not be the woman I am today without my mum's influence."
Teagan Cowlishaw (R) walks the runway with Ms George and Ms Kovacevich. Source: Getty Images AsiaPac
"She took me out to community [as a child] and threw me in the deep end by making me model, and meeting all these fashion icons like Linda Jackson and Aunty Lenore Dempsey.
"Being surrounded by these people as a young kid and being inspired, now I'm just continuing that on."
A trademark of her work, made under her label AARLI Fashion, is the use of Aboriginal English: "Deadly" and "True Gawwd" adorn items in her collection.
She says in the absence of her traditional language, it's a conscious decision to lean into First Nations language use.
"My Nana was part of the Stolen Generation," she explains, "and she also suffered from dementia."
"So I lost language.
"Being part of the next generation now, all this slang is a way that I can have some kind of language that I can speak and use to connect with my mob."
