2 minute read
Mahalia Handley the model you need to know
TO BE A TRAILBLAZER
She’s challenging the system and changing the game. Get to know Mahalia Handley.
By BETHAN WARRIOR
It’s no secret the fashion landscape is shifting. The last few years alone have seen extraordinary change across multiple factions including that of sustainability, ethics and diversity. One woman who is blazing a path for the latter is Australian model, activist, and creative director Mahalia Handley. This year, she’s made history as the first curve, BIPOC, and first-generation Australian model to talk on a panel at fashion week. She was also named one of Afterpay Australian Fashion Week’s 2021 Change Makers – a select group of industry professionals shaping the future of fashion.
Representation and diversity are the cornerstones of Mahalia’s message, and she says she has dealt with discrimination her entire life. “I’m mixed-race, first-generation, plus size, and I’m from The Territory. I’m someone who can’t keep quiet about seeing the wrong thing happening, it breaks my heart and equally ignites a fire within.” Over ten years into her successful modelling career, Mahalia decided she couldn’t ignore the inequalities of the industry and it was her fiery passion for inclusivity that led her to become the face of multiple social change campaigns such as #Shine4Diversity and the #ChangeThePicture initiative. Mahalia notes, “I feel I’ve learnt how to use both my failings and strengths to help initiate change for myself and those who do not have the same platform I do. To recognise yourself in someone is powerful, it is comforting, it brings unity,” she says.
When it comes to how Mahalia sees the industry evolving, she talks of equal representation in all forms of fashion content, as well as a fair ratio of internal staffing. She discusses the centralisation of our major cities
“WE NEED and believes better outreach programs will
MORE DIVERSE aid the discovery of the diaspora of talented PROTAGONISTS TO creatives we have nationwide. “My vision for the
SHOW THE NEXT future will be a journey that’s for sure. One that I GENERATION THAT believe could help heal our nation and it involves THEIR VALUE IS NOT a lot of reformation. New policies and laws, new WEIGHED AGAINST procedures, renaming ceremonies, integration of WHERE THEY ARE Indigenous perspectives, and new initiatives,” she FROM, THEIR SIZE says. As the industry continues to make strides,
OR ETHNICITY.” we’ll be looking to the likes of Mahalia as she forges her path as a profound change maker.
SARAH BOLT
