What’s On & Where to Go Magazine – Tales from the Tablelands – December 2020 – January 2021 Issue
A lifestyle where you can practice your passion, earn a living, dedicate time to your family and live ‘ off-the-grid in one of the most beautiful locations on the planet sounds like a dream to many of us. Leah Kelly, an internationally acclaimed fashion designer from Kuranda, has made this dream her reality, weaving her creativity and musical talent, love for her daughters, and connection to the environment into a sustainable way of life.
Leah spent her youth in a tiny Western New South Wales town called Gulgong, with her parents and three siblings. As a child, she loved camping, and often collected trinkets from the bush around her – stones, shells, driftwood, and other treasures. She recalls hours spent embroidering with her grandma, which she likens to “painting with thread”.
Leah studied environmental health at the University of Sydney while undertaking a traineeship in health and building surveying with the Mudgee Shire Council. Five years through her degree, she became severely ill with a bone tumour, and was thrown off the path she’d set out on, moving back in with her parents and spending many long weeks in hospital.
After a gradual recovery, Leah deferred her degree, bought a ute and headed north with her dog, chasing a change of scenery with no idea where she was going or what shape her life would take. Her travels led her first to Hamilton Island where she worked in a fish market for three months, and eventually Leah found herself in Kuranda.
The Hilton had recently opened in Cairns, so she trialled hospitality and worked as a meet-and-greet hostess at the resort before training to become a restaurant manager, first at the Hilton, then at Silky Oaks Lodge in Mossman. After a year of travelling between Kuranda and Mossman every day, Leah decided she needed a change of pace. Around this time, she became pregnant with her first child. Not wanting to rely on childcare, she built her work life around her new family and fell back on her love of sewing and embroidery to open a clothing stall at the Kuranda markets, hence beginning her career in fashion.”‘ spent a lot of time embroidering and it was a waste to put it on cheap, nasty fabric; she explains. She began using higher quality, longer lasting, organic fabrics such as hemp, silk and wild nettle. More recently she has branched out with more unusual alternatives, like pineapple fibre to make lingerie, and banana bark instead of plastic to structure corsets!
By the time Leah’s third daughter was born, she and her partner at the time had bought a block of land in Kuranda. Her degree in environmental health had covered aspects of building inspection, and combined with a TAFE welding and fitting and turning course she completed in high school, she had enough knowledge and experience to direct the construction of her house. The property had no access to mains power or water, and the driveway was “a bit of a four-wheel-drive goat track” so she hired a mobile mill from New Guinea and milled surrounding timber to build the house.
Living sustainably off the grid, over a kilometre from the main road and surrounded by rainforest was certainly a challenge, especially with three small children to care for, but Leah’s unique home has become a central part of what she does and what she stands for.”(My products arej of natural substance – not just in the materials that I use but from the groundwork up… they’re made completely off-grid, I make them completely myself, and each piece is unique.”
Soon enough, Leah’s work began attracting a larger audience than casual marketgoers. Her clothing became desired by women all around the world who wanted a personalised, ethically made and eco-friendly piece of wearable art, often a wedding dress or heirloom gown embedded with sentimental trinkets like jewellery, stones and shells. Leah’s work has been showcased in Port Douglas, and at Eco Fashion Week Australia in Fremantle. Her designs piqued the interest of Oxford Fashion Studio, who invited her to showcase at Paris Fashion Week in 2020.The event was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, but if travel restrictions lift it may go ahead next year. Meanwhile, an effect of COVID-19 that Leah has wholeheartedly welcomed is the rising popularity of ‘supporting local’ and an increase in consumer education and conscious buying – something that not only dictates her own success but that she has consistently advocated for in all industries, including her other passion, music.
For eight years she has been part of Kuranda based female band ‘Secret Tuesdays’, and for 23 years a member of the indigenous band ‘Gudju Gudju: whose mission is to keep local indigenous language alive through original music. “Music has taken me some amazing places: Leah says, from local festivals like Wallaby Creek to the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Leah’s showcases are often choreographed to her own music, embodying all her talents and pursuits. “I’ve just incorporated everything I love in my life into what I do.”