EFWA 2024 Interview with Eco Designer Leuca Jane Ziemons of Melaleuca Rise (Australia)

Please share a bit about your journey to embrace fashion design as a career.

After emigrating to Australia in 2011, I had the opportunity to pursue a Bachelor of Contemporary Arts at Edith Cowan University. Having had an established career teaching art, I had planned to focus on printmaking. But life had a delightful twist ahead in the form of the extraordinary Head of Contemporary Fashion at ECU, Justine McKnight, who opened the door for me to bring together my ancestral love of cloth, printmaking and sculptural installation.

How did you learn your skills?

I have such a fond memory of being taught to sew buttons onto a piece of cloth whilst sitting by the fire when I was about four by a sweet old lady. She would likely be younger than I am now! It was such a calm and mindful way to be introduced to hand stitching. I'm always learning, studying, researching, experimenting. Working with cloth is a lifelong discovery for me.

Who are you as a designer - aesthetic, customer, brand?

I approach all my design work with a long-held passion for slow and mindful living, environmental awareness, ethical, respectful, and fair treatment of all people, and a thoughtful connection to the earth. 

At Melaleuca Rise we make limited edition and one of a kind heritage clothing for passionately creative people who care.

Why did you choose to focus on sustainable fashion? What additional challenges does that create?

There was no other choice for me. I began my working life in fashion retail. Even in the 90's I already saw the negative trajectory of the fast fashion 'profit beyond people' model of business. That's why I retrained to become a teacher, so that ultimately I could work in service to humanity. I continue to balance my creative design work with teaching, and I couldn't imagine ever having one without the other.

What comes easiest for you as a designer? What is hardest?

The story of the cloth is at the core of my interdisciplinary arts practice. Every collection and exhibition begins with a narrative. Sometimes it's easy to see what that is, but other times I can be working with the cloth for months on end before I work out exactly what it is that needs to be said. I'm fortunate in that my neurodiverse brain has several different operational settings, so I just attend to each task, as and when I am in the appropriate mode. If one thing isn't quite ready, then I just hop on to something else and come back later.

The most difficult part is if I have been in a whirlwind of creativity. The studio has become a creative, chaotic mess, but that's when my absolute star of a studio assistant comes in and brings a renewed sense of calm and order back to the space.

Where do you find inspiration for new collections? How important is colour to your design process?

Inspiration arrives in the most unlikely of moments - noticing a crack in the pavement, smelling perfume as someone walks by, hearing the line in a song. I never know when it will appear, but I have the absolute faith that it's already there and just needs me to be present.

Readers would love to hear a little about the collection you will show on the runway at EFWA 2024.

'Whispers of Dùthchas.' embodies a commitment to environmental stewardship, celebrating joy in diverse cultural narratives, and empowering people from around the globe.

This collection represents a profound collaboration with Loop Upcycling, a West Australian social enterprise which serves as a platform for social empowerment, providing employment and training opportunities for marginalised communities, including refugees, new migrants, long term unemployed and survivors of domestic abuse. For this collection, I transformed textiles from the mining industry and corporate clients.

Each piece in the collection has been meticulously crafted using a variety of creative reuse techniques along with handwoven cloth and screen-printed textiles, showcasing a harmonious blend of tradition and innovation. From heirloom patchwork coats to whimsical layered, hand-embroidered dresses, these garments are a testament to conscious creativity and a symbol of positive change in the contemporary fashion landscape.

Concerned about exploitative and extractive human activities such as deforestation, urbanisation, and agricultural expansion leading to habitat loss and fragmentation, threatening the survival of many plant and insect species, this collection looks to the Scottish Gaelic concept of Dùthchas. Dùthchas is a concept of unity between people, land and living creatures. It is a feeling of belonging where everything is linked. We can belong to the land but the land does not belong to us.

Despite these global environmental challenges, the 'Whispers of Dùthchas' collection serves as a beacon of hope, highlighting the need for small scale local conservation efforts to mitigate the impacts of harmful human activities on plant biodiversity and ecosystem health. It reminds us of the need to celebrate joy in the moment, to acknowledge the beauty of interconnectedness that exists in the world and by living more mindfully, our peaceful efforts can shape a more gentle future.

Where can readers purchase your designs?

As a slow fashion brand making limited edition pieces in our studio, our work is available to order online at www.melaleucarise.com or in person at our studio.

In closing, is there anything else you'd like to share with readers?

As part of an ongoing commitment to environmental responsibility and empowering communities, beginning in January of next year, I aim to make the designs from all our collections accessible to home sewists. I believe makers represent the future of sustainable fashion, a future where individuals can express their uniqueness and individuality through their own connection to cloth.