Lifestyle brand Kip&Co celebrates Indigenous artists in vibrant collaboration with Ernabella Arts

Three years after its first Indigenous art collaboration became its fastest-selling range of all time, lifestyle brand Kip&Co has once again shown how local businesses can collaborate with, and celebrate, Indigenous artists through a new collection produced with Ernabella Arts. 

Ernabella Arts, which is Australia’s longest-running Indigenous arts centre, is located in the Pukatija Community, in the far northwest of South Australia. 

The new collection, which went on sale this morning, features art created by seven Indigenous artists: Alison Lionel, Carlene Thompson, Langaliki Lewis, Lynette Lewis, Malpiya Davey, Michelle Lewis and Rupert Jack. 

It features bedding, clothing and homewares in radiant colours and beautiful patterns, inspired by the ancestral stories of the artists. The collection captures a spirit of “independence, adaptation, creativity and transformation”, says Kip&Co. 

“Ernabella Arts is not only the oldest Indigenous arts centre in Australia, it’s also one of the most artistically diverse,” said Kip&Co co-founder Alex McCabe in a statement provided to SmartCompany. 

“Collaborating with these artists over a two-year period has been humbling and inspiring and we are so excited for the rest of the world to get to experience the joy of their art.”

The founders say they “enjoyed slowing down a bit and working at a more gentle pace” for the collaboration.

“It takes time to be truly collaborative, and it was important to us that the artists had an opportunity to shape and influence the collection together with us,” they told SmartCompany. 

Similar to Kip&Co’s collaboration with the Bábbarra Women’s Centre in remote Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory in September 2020, profits from the latest collection will be split 50-50 between the brand and Ernabella Arts. 

This model was developed with the Bábbarra collection, with Kip&Co working with the Copyright Council to ensure it followed best practices. 

That collection featured artwork from eight unique designs by seven female artists from Bábbarra, which is located in the community of Maningrida and is an enterprise of the Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation. 

“Seeking an authentic connection”

According to Kip&Co, the Bábbarra collection was its fastest-selling, since the Victorian-based brand was launched in late 2010 by founders McCabe, Kate Heppell and Hayley Pannekoecke. 

The brand said that the community “were both superstar models and guides for us”. Source: Supplied

“The incredible success of our Indigenous collaborations shows that consumer behaviour is changing, for the better,” McCabe said.  

“Customers are consciously choosing products that reflect their own social, environmental and ethical values – they are seeking an authentic connection.

“And there’s no better sense of story and purpose than in the art created by Ernabella Arts!”

The Kip&Co founders spent time with the Ernabella Arts in the Pukatija community in mid-2022, travelling to Uluru and then on to the far northwest of South Australia “across fiery red dirt and through weathered mountain ranges and rugged rock formations”. 

“The artists and traditional owners generously allowed us to shoot [campaign images] on country, and it was so important to us to show the artworks amongst the surrounds that have inspired them,” the founders said.

“Under the bright hot sun and clear blue skies, we created the campaign shoot with the help of the community, who were both superstar models and guides for us.

“It’s these moments in our Kip&Co journey that are the most important to us. We cherish these opportunities, which move and shape us creatively and as people.”

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The Kip&Co founders have previously shared their support for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament, describing this month’s referendum as “a moment to come together”. They would “absolutely” like to see more brands also showing their support. 

“We’re voting Yes, because we want a Voice that recognises and respects 65,000 years of Indigenous culture for the first time in Australia’s 122-year-old constitution,” they shared on Instagram in September. 

“This is an incredible opportunity to listen to advice from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people about matters that affect their lives, so governments make better decisions.”