Student designer Que Martin has come all the way from the West Australian town of Kalgoorlie to the runway at Melbourne Fashion Week.
"I'm here and I'm doing exactly what I set out to do as a kid, I'm just so grateful to be a part of it," the 23-year-old told AAP.
The Whitehouse Institute of Design student was one of dozens of graduate designers showing their collections at the sold out runway show in Southbank on Friday.
Martin's collection was inspired by the space race, referencing her mother's upbringing in the Soviet Union and art that was suppressed during that time.
Emigrating from Russia, her mum found work teaching in Kalgoorlie, making extra money from dressmaking and constructing dresses for her daughter out of fabric scraps.
A childhood spent around the sewing table appears to have paid off.
Martin has developed a "couture sportswear" collection of three garments, with a puffer jacket, a leather garment, and a third in neoprene, each paired with shorts.
She made the "scuba" piece by creating three-dimensional shapes under layers of neoprene, fusing them together, and pressing vinyl images onto the material, while the leather garment was designed using digital patterns and 3D rendering to reduce waste.
The puffer was digitally printed with a letter she wrote to her family in Russian, thanking them for the sacrifices they made in emigrating to give her opportunities in Australia.
The meaning of the pieces do not make them less wearable - each is highly detailed, versatile and made to last, according to Martin.
"I don't believe in making something that you can't wear more than 10 times," she said.
"I feel like a lot of designers are creating more waste by making these very conceptual pieces, which tell a message but it's not actually creating wearable garments."
Another student from Whitehouse, Mineth Fonseka, 21, will show dresses inspired by Sri Lankan mythology, constructed from digitally printed taffeta shower curtains.
His Salvation/Bhairava collection features a main look in grey-teal, another in lilac and a third in burgundy-pink.
Fonseka has been designing the voluminous garments for the past six months and after the glamour of the runway show, hopes to go on to more study next year.
Martin hopes to work with Australian brand R.M. Williams - she loves fashioning leather and owns three pairs of the company's iconic boots.
"That would be amazing to keep everything Australian made and make things that last," she said.
Back in Kalgoorlie, her father has a pair that are 50 years old.
Melbourne Fashion Week runs until Sunday.
Art Fashion
