Bobbi takes up Vogue Challenge

A well known Pilbara creative will see her work featured in one of the most recognizable magazines in the world after it went viral recently.

Hedland-born artist Bobbi Lockyer’s work will feature in the July issue of Vogue Australia after she shared photos on Instagram under the trending hashtag, the Vogue Challenge.

The challenge, which involves people creating their own versions of Vogue magazine, began as a tribute to the Black Lives Matter movement and to encourage greater diversity in fashion.

Since posting her work Ms Lockyer said her phone hadn’t stopped buzzing, with support coming from all over the world, including some celebrities. Then, the message came from Vogue’s editor-in-chief Edwina McCann, who said she loved Ms Lockyer’s work and wanted to feature it in their July edition with a view to setting up a front cover shoot for the August edition.

It will be only the third time an Indigenous person has featured on the front of Vogue Australia, with Indigenous Australian model Samantha Harris appearing on the front cover of the June 2010 issue, and the April 2018 issue featuring Indigenous Australian model Charlee Fraser.

Ms Lockyer said she saw the hashtag pop up on Instagram and thought it was a chance to shine a light on the lack of Indigenous representation in Australian media.

“For me, representation is so important for young Indigenous people — for them to see and relate to a familiar face and someone to look up to,” she said.

“When I was growing up on all the magazine covers you’d just see the pretty white girls with blonde hair and blue eyes and it was never really anyone I could relate to. It’s great to see a lot of other Indigenous creatives getting involved with it as well, because why not, why can’t we be in Vogue? Let’s change the narrative.”

“The fact there has only been two Indigenous people on the front cover of such a respected magazine is kind of sad,” she said. “There needs to be a change, and not just in a token way because it’s NAIDOC Week or Reconciliation Week.”