Melbourne SS19 Indigenous Program – Gammin Threads

Finders Keepers is so incredibly thrilled to welcome Gammin Threads to Melbourne as our Indigenous Program recipient for the first stop of our Spring / Summer season. Tahnee Edwards is the super star behind this colourful label, hoping to bring a broader understanding of contemporary first nations culture through her chillwear and accessories. We can’t wait to meet her and encourage you all to get behind this debut stall at Melbourne Finders Keepers this October!

Tell us about Gammin Threads and the story behind your colourful clothing and accessories.

Gammin threads is my side hustle and creative outlet from my full time job at an Aboriginal family violence service. I was inspired by last year’s NAIDOC theme ‘Because of her, we can!” to create a design that represents my appreciation for the matriarchs in our communities who do so much with little or no support. These pieces launched Gammin threads, but since then I’ve used themes around blackfulla language, habits, traits, all things rooted in our culture but not really represented in mainstream.

What’s your creative process and who or what inspires you?

I find inspiration everywhere but predominantly from my community and pop culture. I’ll often see or hear something that resonates with me and then wanna use it somehow in a design. I’ve been lucky to travel a bit, and have found a lot of inspiration from hand-painted signage and typography used in non-Western countries. I’m old school and love the feeling of drawing with pen and paper, then will refine it digitally for printing. I’ll often be designing from my bed or lounge, so I’m fuelled by coffee and 90s hip hop. 

What is it about typography combined with language that gives you a buzz?

Coming from a design background I’ve always loved type and branding. From WordArt in primary school to designing logos, typography has always been my jam. And I think language helps create identity, you learn heaps about someone and their culture from the words they use. So putting them together in cute ways makes me super happy! 

How do you live your life colourfully?

That’s a tough question! I physically have a lot of colour in my life, like my apartment and clothes are very colourful, I eat colourful food and use some colourful language. But I think most importantly, I’m unapologetically myself 🙂 

This is your first Finders Keepers – yay! What will you be bringing and what is the main message you would like people to take away after a visit to Gammin Threads?

I’m hoping that Gammin threads helps create a broader understanding of contemporary first nations culture, like we’re a very diverse and extremely proud mob.

I’m so excited, I’ve been going to Finders Keepers markets for years so this is mad! I’m bringing some deadly new designs on tee’s and tote bags, and accessories like keyrings and pins. I’m hoping that Gammin threads helps create a broader understanding of contemporary first nations culture, like we’re a very diverse and extremely proud mob. 

gamminthreads.com
instagram.com/gamminthreads
facebook.com/gamminthreads

Bonus Q: 
We’re sussing stallholder wishlists! Is there a Finders Keepers designer you’re excited to meet this season?

I would love to meet the people at North as they’re an Indigenous social enterprise and doing great things for community up north, so want to learn more about what they’re doing, and also Ellie from Squint, her stuff is super fun and cool, I’d love to see it IRL and learn more about her business. 

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