Queensland fashion royalty of the likes of Wendy Makin, Julie Tengdahl and George Wu have long ruled the catwalk at the Ekka’s annual Natural Fibres Fashion Parades.

This year, a new guard of fashion students and emerging designers will hold court at the Royal International Convention Centre.

A former Mount Isa miner, an investment director with a PhD in international relations and a self-taught social campaigner are among a handful of new couturiers making their debuts this year.

They are among 27 designers from across Queensland working with cotton, wool, silk and leather and whose handiwork is on show in 30 parades across the 10-day event.

Long may they reign.

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Jacky Stickler

31, Newstead

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Six months ago Jacky Stickler put pencil to paper to design her first fashion range because she wanted to “do something of value”.

“I’d turned 30 and thought, what do I want out of the next 10 years of my life?” she says.

An avid observer of fashion, the former marketing manager found that the closer she examined the industry, the more she was inspired to make a positive difference.

Three months later she launched sticks + stone, an ethical fashion label dedicated to using sustainable and organic textiles, recycling and repurposing fabrics and minimising environmental impacts.

“Once I started to scratch the surface and understand a little bit more about the practices within the fashion industry, I started to learn about issues with materials used, production methods and the way people are treated throughout the processes,” she says.

Through her fledgling label, Jacky encourages people to be conscious about how they “consume” fashion, from the fabrics they wear to purchasing habits.

“We dump a significant amount of textile waste every year which is having quite an impact on our environment,” she says.

type_quote_start Rather than buying into the fast fashion, throwaway culture of buying something new every week or something new for every event, treasure particular garments or materials with a higher value. type_quote_end

Jacky has no formal design training so approached Jodie Hilton at The New Garde creative hub at Newstead for mentoring and industry expertise before launching her label three months ago.

Each item in sticks + stone’s first eight-piece collection was made using organic cotton. “A lot of sustainable and ethical labels currently provide a lot of casual items so my object is to create some nicer things for women,” Jacky says of her design brief.

She will parade four looks at the Ekka, two from her debut collection and two from her forthcoming collaboration with local textile designer The Indigo Room, due to drop in October.

“I love how people are able to express themselves through fashion.

“It’s a really creative medium and something that touches everyone.”

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Ladan Ocora

39, Bardon

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The first steps in Ladan Ocora’s fashion journey were taken in a bustling marketplace in the Ugandan capital, Kampala.

Stalls packed with bolts of bright cotton fabric stirred her creativity and a desire to empower the vendors, too.

Eight months after her African holiday, Ladan will launch her social enterprise fashion label, Daughter of the Moon, featuring pieces made from fabric purchased at the Kampala market, at the Ekka’s Natural Fibres Fashion Parades.

She will debut three looks in the daily parade with a focus on vivid colours and distinctive designs, before taking her compact seven-piece collection to market in October.

An investment director with BT Financial Group, Ladan has worked in the field of impact investing and is driven to help developing countries break the poverty cycle.

type_quote_start My label is a for-profit social enterprise, where I’m trying to work out how I can profit-share with the women involved. type_quote_end

“My goal is to get at least three or more women in the northern Ugandan region who have been affected by more than 18 years of civil war on a really good income they can rely on. That’s my real motivation, I feel like that’s my real purpose.”

Ladan, mother to Michael, 7, and James, 9, still works full-time, designing and creating her fashion pieces at night and on weekends.

“It’s such a creative outlet you don’t normally get in an office job,” she says.

“I love doing it, it’s a pleasure to actually sit down and draw.”

Born in Iran, Ladan moved to Sydney with her family when she was four, relocating to Switzerland for eight years before settling in Brisbane with Ugandan-born husband George and their sons seven years ago.

“I’ve always loved designing but this last time I went to Uganda, I saw the beautiful materials and I just started drawing,” she says.

Throughout her extensive travel and career, which included a stint at the United Nations, Ladan’s interest in fashion remained a constant.

She now plans to work with her Ugandan fabric sellers to design and commission her own prints.

“If people are given jobs and good incomes and there is demand for what they’re producing, that will help the economy grow and flourish, even in a small way.”

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Nikke Horrigan

28, IPSWICH

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He once dressed in work gear for the mines before heading underground with the boys.

Now Nikke Horrigan has scrubbed off the dirt and decked himself out in the latest menswear – lovingly designed by himself.

The Ipswich resident turned his back on the mining industry two years ago to follow his fashion dream.

He has his own online store, simply titled Nikke Horrigan, and has already caught the eye of stylist to the stars Marc James who dresses Guy Sebastian and Jessica Mauboy, as well as Brisbane restaurateur and man about town Tim Johnson.

After showcasing his creations at the Ekka fashion parades he plans to expand the range to include womenswear, accessories and fragrance.

“I was always interested in fashion. I grew up around it as my mother was very fashion forward,” he says.

“She would go shopping and I was dragged along as a five-year-old. I would choose my own outfits even then, and was very picky about what I wore. I’ve always seen fashion as an extension of oneself.

type_quote_start Although I went into mining I never really felt like it was for me. I was singled out by the other guys who thought I was gay because I dressed so well. type_quote_end

“After I left I went back to college and did a design course and realised I was actually really good.”

Nikke started the label out of his garage at home. “I’m proud of my humble beginnings. It’s been a slow process working from home but I’m finally getting somewhere. I’m much more at home now designing clothes than I ever was down in the mines, and it’s pretty cool to have the opportunity to be involved in the Ekka.

“I would attend the show religiously with my father as a child. It’s amazing to actually be involved this year.”

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The Back to Nature Natural Fibres Fashion Parades will be staged at 12.30pm, 1.30pm and 2.30pm daily during the Ekka from Aug 11-20. ekka.com.au

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media_camera Fashion designers showing at the Ekka Parades - Nikke Horrigan, Jacky Stickler and Ladan Ocora. Photo: Mark Cranitch

media_camera Natural beauty: Sticks + stone designs feature organic textiles.

media_camera Daughter of the Moon fashions are made in Uganda.