Good News Day

Magnolia Maymuru: From Yirrkala to the catwalk

''A teenage model selected as the Northern Territory representative for the Miss World national finals hopes the opportunity will "break the cycle" of how broader Australia views traditional Indigenous life.

When a model manager spotted Yirrkala-born Maminydjama Maymuru getting cash out of a Darwin city ATM in 2014, it was almost a cliché opening from a plucked-from-obscurity supermodel success story.

"I stopped dead in my tracks. I think I scared the life out of her," Mehali Tsangaris, director of NT Fashion Week, said.

But Ms Maymuru knocked back Mr Tsangaris's on-the-spot offer to appear on a catwalk just a few weeks later...''

by Emilia Terzon