3 days ago
Model Cindy Rostron named this year's young achiever at the National Indigenous Fashion Awards
Backstage at a fashion show celebrating Australia's finest First Nations artists, model and youth leader Cindy Rostron is reflecting on her growing public profile.
While those in the industry know Rostron best for her runway walk and features in Vogue Australia magazine, almost 6 million people have been introduced to the Bununggu and Warraingu woman through her TikTok and Instagram pages.
"I started TikTok for fun, just being myself, but now it is my opportunity," Rostron said.
"It is my job to do it."
Whether it is print media or social media, Rostron said she recognised the opportunities to "show off and share my culture, and represent my community".
On Wednesday night, at the National Indigenous Fashion Awards (NIFAs) in Darwin, Rostron was rewarded for her work with the Cecilia Cubillo Young Achiever Award.
"It is incredible to see what Cindy has achieved in only a few years," judge Yatu Widders-Hunt said.
"It is great to see Cindy carve out her own brand and use social media to tell stories on her own terms, and in her unique voice.
"Her commitment to sharing her experiences and mentoring other young people is particularly impressive. It is clear that culture and community are what drives Cindy."
Growing up in the small Northern Territory community of Kolorbidahdah in West Arnhem Land, Rostron said she assumed her career would follow in her father's footsteps.
"Growing up watching my father doing the ranger job, land management, and collecting crocodile eggs, and killing feral animals, and looking after all the rock art, all the sacred sites, I wanted to be a ranger," Rostron said.
But breaking into arts and modelling was always there in the back of her mind.
"When I was little I was watching Magnolia Maymuru doing the modelling, and I was like, 'Maybe one day I'll be like her', so she kind of inspired me," Rostron said.
In 2021, Rostron's sister-in-law took her to Barunga Festival — one of the NT's biggest celebrations of Indigenous art, sport, music and traditional craft — and encouraged her to take part in a runway show.
The then-teenager said she was hesitant about the idea, but knew she had to "see what's out there".
"I modelled the design Bàbbarra Design, one from my family in Maningrida and I just went up from there … unexpectedly," she said.
Over the following years, Rostron continued to knit together her two passions: life out on country, where she worked for two years as a ranger like her father, and the fashion industry.
It was this merging of worlds that secured Rostron her first feature in Vogue Australia in 2022.
"I was doing a photo shoot in Broome and Kununurra and they invited me to go celebrate in Perth," she said.
"From there, they told me to do a photo shoot in my country, my great-great-grandmother's country in Dukala-djarranj, and I did the first photo shoot there, when I had pink hair."
It was not until some time later that she realised the photos would be published in Vogue.
"I didn't really know what Vogue means … because I was a bush girl," she said.
Rostron has since been featured in the high-profile fashion publication several times.
Passion for the arts runs in Rostron's family, with her mother Jay Jurrupula Rostron winning the Textile Design award at the 2024 NIFAs.
"My mum … was watching my grandfather doing all the arts, the weaving, and she was doing the paintings … when she was young, I think at 14 or 15."
At Rostron's high school graduation, she donned one of her mother's very own designs, while her father sang to her the "MiMi (Bungal)" songline, which she described as "very special and sacred … because it was given from all the spirits".
Now 20 years old, Rostron says her family has continued to support her modelling career.
"I want to keep doing this modelling … and [also] my goal is to go back out country and help my families," she said.
"At the moment I'm helping my dad … back at home, cleaning the roads with the grader."
Rostron's down-to-earth nature is evident in her personal style.
To other young First Nations women aspiring to a career in modelling, Rostron said: "Don't be shy, don't feel shame."
"Don't be me," she added.
"Just be yourself."
