MY STORY

CHAPTER 1

The early years.

I was born in Canberra in 1983, then moved to Christmas Island, in the Indian Ocean, when I was 6 months old. My Mum was an incredibly talented and creative primary school teacher and my Dad was an Ornithologist and the only National Parks and Wildlife ranger on the whole island. It was a wild and wonderful first 4 years of my life and provided an integral foundation for much of my creative pursuits later in life.

We moved back to Canberra when I was 4 and then up to Townsville in North Queensland when I was 9 where I spent the majority of my childhood. Holidays and weekends were filled with adventures to rainforests and tropical islands as my Dad continued his work with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Parks Authority. Mum brought magic in to the everyday with her creativity and passion for life. I graduated school at 16 and repeated grade 12 in Japan - yet another wonderful experience that influenced my designs later in life.

When I returned from my gap year, I moved to the Gold Coast and spent 5 years studying a Bachelor of Exercise Science and Masters of Physiotherapy. Although my heart was always with the creative industries, at 16 Physiotherapy seemed like the “right'“ thing to do. I went on to work in hospitals, private practice and then sat my Canadian entrance exams allowing me to practice there for a wonderful 3 years. My experience as a Physiotherapist provided excellent communication, analytic and interpersonal development opportunities, all of which have been wonderful assets in my current career in the creative industries.

CHAPTER 2

Melbourne & Millinery

Living in Canada in my late 20s and recently engaged, I was torn on whether to follow my head or my heart when moving back to Australia. I worked with a career coach and finally understood why I was never fulfilled with Physiotherapy. Test results showed that I was 95% more creative than the norm for my age and gender in Australia. I remember her saying “Christie - you are SO creative! If you' don’t work in the creative industries, you will never be happy!”. It was if I had finally been given permission to follow my heart.

Ever since I was a little girl, I loved the transformational quality of fashion. I was in awe with the movie My Fair Lady, watching it on repeat and knowing every word. I always had a strong wish to go and study Millinery, even though there was no sense to it. So on my return to Australia, I moved to Melbourne and enrolled in the Mebourne School of Fashion’s year long “Fashion Millinery” program. It was the first time that what I was studying felt right! I then moved to Brisbane and completed Certificate III and IV in Millinery at TAFE which is the highest level of training available in Australia. It’s no surprise that my graduate collection was based on the Birds of Paradise as a homage to my tropical childhood adventures! I was also very honoured to take home the Millinery award with my wonderful teacher Robyn.

CHAPTER 3

Come To Life | Fashion Business Incubator | Westfield | Australian Fashion Week

My first collection on graduation was called Come To Life as I felt that is what Millinery had done to me. I explored the narrative of a secret garden. A world behind the gates that I never knew existed and the transformation that was possible within. Millinery collections in Australia need to provide a collection of feminine pieces (for Oaks Day), monochrome pieces (for Derby Day) and a few hero pieces (for Melbourne Cup Day). I brought the secret garden narrative in to my designs, with lace work referencing the secret garden gate and organic, floral forms referencing the garden itself. The following is a behind the scenes of the collection coming to life and my first ever (bless!) branding all those years ago. I loved those first few years of fearless self expression! It also sparked my passion for emotive, creative storytelling. I loved bringing my first collection to life visually and having the opportunity to work alongside other talented creatives. Fashion had taken my heart. There was no looking back.

After finishing a Millinery business series with acclaimed British Milliner Piers Atkinson, I went on to stock my headwear in my first retail store “Designer Forum” alongside other amazing Australian labels such as Aje, Lover, Manning Cartel, Nicholas, Ellery and Alice McCall. I worked creating headwear for some amazing creative shoots and had a pop up on James Street where the Calile Hotel currently is and in Melbourne at the Block Arcade. I was also the first accessory designer accepted in to the Queensland University of Technology Fashion Business Incubator program and took my collection to Australian Fashion Week having showings with buyers from David Jones and other boutiques around Australia. I ran spring racing fashion workshops with Westfield and judged “Fashions on the Field” competitions. It was a busy and beautiful year of firsts and also lead to the next chapter and an exciting opportunity as a young designer.

CHAPTER 4

James St | CAMILLA collaboration

Whilst at my Pop-Up on James Street, one of the team from CAMILLA visited and later contacted me to do an exclusive collection for all of their stores around Australia and David Jones. It was the most incredible opportunity - and a baptism of fire in to the Australian fashion industry! And I was there for it! As a designer in residence at the Fashion Incubator, and with an incredible team of industry mentors behind me, I decided to go for it. What did I have to lose?! The next year was a whirlwind of creative meetings, production schedules, project management, many sleepless nights and flights back and forth from Brisbane to Sydney. Myself and a team of 8 other Milliners worked tirelessly to produce hundreds of pieces. The result - an amazing collection of 4 handmade designs for their following Spring collection - all inspired by Camilla’s recent trip to Africa. I learnt so much from this experience. It gave me a unique top down insight in to how a successful fashion label operated - it’s structure and creative process, the level of detail that went in to every part of a collection, the fabrication, branding, packaging, logistics and roll out. It was so inspiring and challenging and cemented my love of the business of fashion.

CHAPTER 5

Wild In The Wind | VOGUE | Stylists & Influencers

My second headwear collection Wild In The Wind launched alongside the CAMILLA collaboration. As my brand and aesthetic continued to evolve, pieces were directional and windswept, with textural and organic forms that became one with the wearer. This was my first season working with influencers, stylists and magazines and I had headwear featured in VOGUE and Harpers Bazaar.

CHAPTER 6

Kylie Minogue | VOGUE | Melbourne Fashion Festival

My third millinery collection was small and intentional, featuring headwraps and crowns. I was able to place more focus on bespoke designs for clients and furthered my PR work, being interviewed by Channel 7 and working with celebrity stylists and TV presenters.

It was a pinch me moment when Mark Vassallo reached out and asked me to design some headwear for the VOGUE Australia show at the Melbourne Fashion Festival. I worked in multiple different mediums including 3D printing, feathers, crystals and natural jinsin fibres to create the word “VOGUE” in runway-ready headwear. Working with the team at VOGUE Australia was a dream. The show was held in the iconic Royal Exhibition Centre in Melbourne. As the lights went out in the Royal Exhibition Building, the opening look was my lit up VOGUE headpiece. I couldn’t believe it! It was a career highlight and one that I will never forget!

VOGUE then contacted me about creating a headpiece for Kylie Minogue’s 50th Birthday edition - similar to the sequinned VOGUE piece for the MFF show. I tried a number of fonts but we landed on a hand sketched “VOGUE” that I had done in pencil as a mock up. I have always admired Kylie for her talent and tenacity, it was such a joy and privilege to help to celebrate her and to work with Kate Darvill and her incredible team at VOGUE Australia.

CHAPTER 7

Motherhood | Rebrand | Bridal pivot | Millinery Business Series

In 2018 I gave birth to my most amazing creation to date - my gorgeous little girl Chloe! I was not prepared for the transformation that was Motherhood - it really brings to light all that no longer serves you. For me, that meant facing the reality that Millinery, in Australia, would always be an industry that was enmeshed with horse racing and gambling, something that I had always been uncomfortable with but had managed to compartmentalise until this point. I knew a move to the UK was not something that I wanted so I turned towards something that I had always done on the side and gave it my full attention - working with Brides! It was also an opportunity to get really clear on what Christie Millinery was about and to create a brand that really felt like me. Modern, feminine and empowering. Everything that I would want for my new daughter! I built my third website and rolled out the rebrand across digital and physical assets and packaging. I explored new headwear designs and brought together a team for a creative shoot around Feminine Elegance which you can view on my journal here.

During this time, I was also approached by Hat Academy, the world’s leading online training platform for Millinery, to create and host a Millinery Business Series. It was another wonderful opportunity to create an industry specific resource - something that I wished that I had as a young Milliner.

CHAPTER 8

Restless Light | Galia Lahav collaboration | Bespoke

Although I’d produced a few Millinery campaigns, having the opportunity to rebrand and to finally feel like myself, I was so excited to create a selection of RTW headpieces that felt true to Christie Bridal. I absolutely adored creating content for Restless Light. It was poetic and strong, everything that I hoped it would be. The industry responded and I quickly had 3 gorgeous stockists in Australia and England.

Working alongside florists, photographers, makeup artists and stationery designers in the bridal industry was such a dream! The Lane was transforming the wedding digital landscape and there so many ultra cool Australian designers going global. I finally felt at home. Brides understood what it meant to have a made-to-order product and the time, cost, and skill that it took to create bespoke headwear. I went to trade shows, created headwear for other bridal designer campaigns and ran bridal styling events. It was a really lovely and fulfilling chapter of my business.

I was completely overwhelmed when iconic Israeli bridal house Galia Lahav reached out to work on 2 looks for their Design Manager’s wedding. It was an incredible experience working with Sharon and the team.

CHAPTER 9

My second daughter | Self-publishing a children’s book

My gorgeous daughter Evelyn arrived in 2022, born at home into my hands. I was profoundly transformed from the experience and wanted to bottle it up for my daughters for when they were to become mothers one day. I struggled to find a children’s book that I connected with leading up to Evelyn’s birth - so I did what any creative spirit would do and wrote my own! It was lovely to have a creative project that used my 5 years of university training blended with my creative fire. I found an incredible Illustrator who understood colour (and had a background in textile design!) and I poured myself in to turning our journey in to a story that could be shared with other families choosing to homebirth. Birth Is Magic is my creative contribution to an industry that provided so much for our family. I currently sell the book directly through my website and it is available to purchase through a selection of 14 stockists around Australia.

CHAPTER 10

Fashion Freelance Work | Building websites

I knew that I wanted to be a big part of my daughter’s lives and decided to take a step back from artisanal work and to use my skills in a way that worked for our little family. I had started helping friends and family with websites and branding on the side but desperately missed working in Fashion. When I reconnected with the Founder of Bloom (an elevated multi-brand bridal studio that I had previously stocked in), Sam mentioned needing help with the business side of her studio. I was so excited to step in to the role of regular, project based business support for 2024/25 and have just started working with her again after 6 months of maternity leave. Sam is a visionary in Bridal, stocking iconic brands like Vivienne Westwood and Danielle Frankel in her Newstead studio. She had grown quickly since I had stocked with her and it was a joy to work with her every week in a freelance capacity. Since working with Sam, I have brought all of our remote work on to Asana where we currently manage projects together; we have started exploring her studio’s personal brand and have introduced different fonts along with starting a style guide; I helped to relaunch her Ode brand, creating web pages, AI assisted copy, digital assets and marketing campaigns; I regularly curate campaign imagery from designers to take across her social media and website alongside real bride imagery; I write and create newsletters, infographics, homepage banners and visual real bride albums. Every week is a new journey and I love the versatility of work with Bloom. It’s a delight to work virtually with such beautiful products and to support Sam on her founder journey.

CHAPTER 11

Three girls | Fashion & Creative Freelance career

In January 2026 I welcomed my 3rd absolutely gorgeous daughter in to our home. I have just finished maternity leave and have started project based work with Bloom, alongside distributing my children’s book and managing a few websites. I am looking for one other fashion client to work with virtually anywhere from 3-5 hours per week for the remainder of 2026, with the option to open up more hours at this point. If you would like to be part of my next Chapter - I would love to hear from you! Please leave your details in the form below. Thank you for following my journey!

Christie x