First Nations designer Ebony Rose Kruger returned to the Melbourne Fashion Festival this year to debut the new collection of her brand - Ebony Noire - on the event's Beyond Blak runway.

"Ebony Noire was a name born at a music festival, my friend knighted me Ebony Noire meaning black black, ebony as in black wood and noire as in black in French. My mob are Central Desert Arrernte from Mparntwe and Te Ātiawa and Ngāti Kahungunu from Aotearoa," she told Style Up.

"My career as a designer has only just begun... However, my craftsmanship has been developing for around four years, and creativity has always been there. Even as a child I was precise with visual work. I used to win colouring competitions and could sit down and finish a whole colouring book in a day, which took a lot of focus for a five-year-old.

"That patience and attention to detail shows up in my work today through strong construction and the way I think carefully about every part of a garment."

Kruger shared that while she had previously been involved in Melbourne Fashion Festival behind the scenes, it was not until Mob In Fashion provided her with a new opportunity that she truly spread her creative wings.

"I've been working backstage as a dresser and assistant stylist for a couple of years now, and I've always thought of it as training for when I eventually become a designer," she said.

"Going back to 2021 with Mob in Fashion was my first time being involved with Melbourne Fashion Festival, so to then come back a few years later and debut my first collection with them felt like a really big full circle moment," Kruger told Style Up.

"The opportunity came about when I went to visit Rhys, the director, and Garth, the head stylist. They had just moved into a new Mob in Fashion building and with my studies nearly finished it felt like the right time to reach out and reconnect.

"I went in not really expecting anything, just a casual catch-up. We were talking about what everyone had been up to, and I showed them some of the designs I'd been working on at uni. Looking back on it now, I basically pitched myself to them."

Kruger chose not to officially name her new collection, but rather dedicate it to her family and what they reflected.

"I didn't give the collection a formal name, but in a way - I dedicate it to my grandparents. I had them in mind a lot throughout the whole journey," she said.

"The creative process happened very quickly. I didn't leave myself a huge amount of time, but I was lucky that over the year I'd already been jotting down ideas and sketches, so when the opportunity came up, I could dip back into those in what felt like a bit of a creative emergency.

"At the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) we're really taught to begin with a strong concept and develop the idea fully before moving into making. That means researching fabrics, trimmings, and thinking through how the garment will be achieved through construction and pattern making. I use a mix of draping and pattern making depending on the garment."

"My inspiration mainly comes from my life experiences and the environments I'm exposed to. The people I meet, the creative scenes I'm part of, and my own identity all shape the way I design."

Passionate about connecting with, resonating with, and inspiring other emerging designers, Kruger said more funding within the First Nations fashion sector would assist in helping many more designers reaching their creative goals and furthering their careers.

"More funding would definitely help. Fashion can be really expensive, especially when you're trying to develop collections, source fabrics and experiment with construction," Kruger told Style Up.

"A lot of emerging First Nations designers have incredible ideas but limited resources to fully realise them.

"I'd also love to see more shared creative spaces. A few friends and I who are emerging designers have been talking about forming a cohort, and having access to a shared sewing space or studio would make a huge difference. Spaces like that allow designers to collaborate, learn from each other and develop their work."

"More platforms, mentorship and industry exposure would also help emerging First Nations designers build long-term careers in fashion."

Looking ahead, Kruger is eager to develop her brand whilst staying true to her core values of wanting to design more bespoke pieces - specifically for those working within the creative industry.

"At the moment I'm mainly focused on getting myself out there more and continuing to develop my work," she said.

"I don't really plan on being a huge label. I want to be a personal designer I'm interested in designing bespoke pieces for other creatives like musicians, performers or even voguers so we can make garments that feel personal to their identity.

"I have a street performance project coming up where I'll be costume designing, which I'm really excited about."

"I'm also in the early stages of designing costumes for the ballroom scene, working with voguers, which is something I'm really interested in exploring creatively. Alongside that I'm finishing my studies at RMIT and working on my capstone project, which is a collaboration with the designer Jude."

"Other than that, I'm just continuing to develop new ideas and slowly working on new pieces as I move forward in my practice."