Marion Patterson: When you think about modelling, you think about women that are tall, thin, blonde, and you have to wear shoes. But that's not me.
Nicole Curby: Marion Peterson is 68 years old and after 30 years as an early childhood teacher, her life took an unexpected turn.
Marion Patterson: I just love modelling.
Nicole Curby: Last year, she was on the catwalk at Melbourne Fashion Week.
Marion Patterson: I was also in Vogue, the Vogue magazine and Marie Claire.
Nicole Curby: And she doesn't fit their usual bill.
Marion Patterson: I would describe myself as a proud Tiwi Indigenous woman and my Dreaming is jungle fowl. But I've got blue eyes. I'm five foot five. I never wear makeup, but I love my lippy.
Nicole Curby: And you don't wear shoes.
Marion Patterson: I don't wear shoes. Only if I'm going out somewhere special.
Nicole Curby: Marion, at the age of 66, you started a career in modelling. How did you get started in modelling?
Marion Patterson: I went down to the convention centre just as a volunteer. Stacking chairs and, you know, getting things ready for the runway for Country to Couture.
Nicole Curby: Country to Couture is an annual First Nations fashion show in Darwin.
Marion Patterson: So I went in and the lady said to me, 'Oh, are you one of the models?' And I said, 'No, I'm a volunteer.' And she said, 'Oh, can I put you on the catwalk? Come tomorrow we've got rehearsals.' And I said, 'Oh, okay.' And that's how it all started. It was only just two years ago. Yeah, yeah, just two years ago. And I said, 'Why would you want to pick me? I'm too old.' She said, 'You're never too old to model.' Well, I wasn't nervous at all. I just, I love being out. Just came naturally. Yeah. Piece of cake.
Nicole Curby: Mostly when people are on the catwalk, you know, they strut the catwalk and they get to the end, and they sort of pivot and turn around, and then they strut back. But you're doing something really unusual.
Marion Patterson: Oh yeah, no I can't see myself just walking down, turning around and then walking back. I'm a bit of a performer. I love dancing and singing.
Nicole Curby: From the first time she modelled, Marion hit the catwalk with a unique and out of the ordinary style.
Marion Patterson: The first time, I said to the lady, 'I don't really feel comfortable just walking out and walking back, can I do my dance?' And she said, 'You can go out and do whatever you want.' And I said, 'Right.' I just got everyone clapping. They were all clapping but, you know, to my beat. And then I just started doing my jungle fowl dance.
Stamping with your feet and putting out your hands, and just like you're flying, you bring it up and down, and you're flying with your hands out and spread wide. And you just clap along with that, you know, the steps. Yeah, it's fun. And then I walked off and everyone was just clapping because they'd never seen that sort of thing before. So that's what I do when I'm out on the catwalk.
Nicole Curby: Marion wears Top End designs, some of them from the Tiwi Islands where she grew up, and others from Gapuwiyak, the Central Arnhem Land community she spent decades teaching in.
Marion Patterson: It was an honour to wear the fibres that the local ladies made.
Nicole Curby: As you were getting your hair and makeup done ...
Marion Patterson: Yes, yes.
Nicole Curby: ... we saw this beautiful, woven fine headpiece.
Marion Patterson: It's a cocky, white cockatoo feathers, dyed pandanus yellow dye from the roots of a tree.
Nicole Curby: And it looks like a halo made out of natural fibres.
Marion Patterson: Yes.
Nicole Curby: What's the significance of that?
Marion Patterson: We wear that at ceremony when we do Yoyi. We call that Yoyi in Tiwi: dancing, yeah. And that's what we wore for my dad's ceremony, when my dad passed away. Sometimes I look in the mirror and say to myself, 'Why are you doing this?' You know? And then other times I'll think ... I think of my mum and dad, when I'm modelling. I can feel them beside me, you know, walking with me. Yeah. And I think that's where my mum and dad led me to. When we were little, small, like five, six. We used to get these big bags come over on the barge from the op shops in Darwin. Mum used to just empty all the bags on the grass. We'd all go and just show off and wear them and twirl around.
Nicole Curby: That's how you started. And now you're wearing very expensive, one-off, designer.
Marion Patterson: I know. When I think about it, I think, I sort of pinch myself and I think to myself, 'I can't believe this has happened to me.' It's just so hard to imagine. I just love modelling and I'm enjoying what I'm doing at 68 years old. I think modelling is changing for the better for Indigenous men and women. And ages. We're just growing gracefully. And part of the change, yes.
Marion Patterson is not your typical model.
The proud 68yo Tiwi Islander is five foot five, she doesn't wear makeup or shoes, and dances her Dreaming along the catwalk.
Hosted and produced by Nicole Curby.