Cordelia Gibbs

Cordelia Gibbs was brought up on a Merino Sheep stud in the regional town of Beverley in WA and carries an ongoing connection to country Australia; the land, the work and the people, and most importantly the heritage of wool and the journey of materials. She began studying a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Fashion in 2010, and graduated in 2013 before going on to complete an Honours year in 2014. Cordelia’s graduate collection A Life in Wool was presented at Curtin’s 2013 Fashion Graduate show NAKEDMINDS, where it received two industry prizes. A Life in Wool was later shown at the 2014 Australian Wool Fashion Awards where Cordelia was awarded the winner of the ‘Young Designer’ category and the ‘Supreme Champion’ of 2014. This opportunity has seen the collection take part in a national tour with TAWFA and be featured in a number of state and national media. The collection was also exhibited in Innovo: Conventions Undone and Telstra Perth Fashion Festival (TPFF) 2014 fashion exhibition Fashioning Forms: The Craft of Making. Four designs were selected to be a part of TPFF’s Future Runway, where Cordelia was awarded the winner for ‘Eco Design’. Cordelia’s 2014 Collection, Behind the Front Line, was submitted along with a Thesis for completion of her Honours degree and has since been involved in a number of fashion shows and exhibitions. The menswear collection, which investigates the cultural connection to wool in Colonial Australia, was featured in the Djurra Walk for Water and PR in Fashion runway shows in Fremantle in 2015. The work was also featured in Fashion[ing] Wool at Ennex100 and presented at Curtin University’s Fashion Tank with Jimmy Choo. After being awarded the winning designer for Fremantle’s Fairly Fashionable last year, Cordelia has extended her portfolio in a collaborative project with Freo based label Anjel Ms, designing their Summer 2015/16 menswear collection. The relationship with Anjel Ms is continuing for 2016 as she designs garments to be produced ethically in Bali, India and Nepal and stocked at Anjel Ms on High Street and the Markets in Fremantle, and The Goodies Store in Perth City.