Billie-Jean Hamlet: ‘I came from nothing and I’m out here living my dream’

When Billie-Jean Hamlet touched down in Sydney two years ago, with just a backpack and a couple of hundred dollars to her name, she went straight to Bondi beach. Immersing her toes in the clean white sand and looking out to the rocky headlands, she was struck by an overwhelming sense that she was exactly where she was meant to be. “I thought ‘Oh my God. I’m home’,” she tells STM. “It was an amazing feeling.” It might seem surprising that a kid from the Kimberley, who spent the first six years of her life living in a tin shed in a remote Aboriginal community, would feel so at ease amid the traffic gridlock and beaches teeming with people. But the 19-year-old was brimming with self-belief, and had faith that her ancestors were guiding her in the right direction. She was confident this was the place where her modelling career would take off. And so it did. It took just days for the stunning Walmatjarri woman to land her first job, after signing with Priscillas modelling agency in Sydney. That job was the summer 2020 campaign for Australian brand Country Road, which saw Hamlet back in the red dirt, under wide open skies. The Alice Springs shoot, Hamlet says, was the perfect way to start her career. “It was amazing, it felt super natural to me. I felt like I was in the right place at the right time, it was almost too good to be true,” she says. Now 21, Hamlet is in high demand and has not stopped working since. She has completed seven Country Road campaigns and was recently dubbed a “supermodel-in-the-making” by Vogue magazine. Now in her first major WA campaign, Hamlet is one of the faces of the $800 million Karrinyup Shopping Centre redevelopment, the first stage of which will be launched on Thursday. Karrinyup’s WA on Stage campaign showcases looks from the revamped retail precinct set against the backdrop of some of our State’s most beautiful locations, such as the Pinnacles. While back home, Hamlet spent time with her parents and five siblings, and revealed the role they played in helping a painfully shy child from the Nguturwarta community pursue such a public profession, and to possess such self-belief. Hamlet describes an idyllic childhood growing up in the community, which is near Fitzroy Crossing. “We lived in the middle of nowhere, in a tin shed, we would go hunting and fishing every day,” she says. “It was all we knew, and we loved it. It was so nice to be surrounded by nature, and culture, and it made me appreciate the simple things in life. “I’m so grateful for everything I have and I will never forget where I come from.” Hamlet is known as “The Freshwater Mermaid” among her elders, who bestowed her with a barramundi totem when her mother was pregnant. “My father couldn’t stop catching barramundi fish on the Fitzroy River. He would catch enough to feed our entire family, my elders and the rest of my community,” she explains. “(Now) on family fishing trips I am always the first to catch one. “From an early age my culture and our connection to the land has been a huge part of my life. “I have been taught to always show respect and gratitude. I find strength in trusting that my ancestors are always with me and guiding me in the right direction through my journey of life.” That path led first to Perth, where the family relocated when Hamlet was six, in order to give the siblings more educational opportunities. Her parents enrolled Hamlet and brother Nixon, now a talented sprinter training for the Paris Olympics, in acting and modelling classes. They hoped it would bring their shy little girl out of their shell. “At first I was quite hesitant and shy, if it wasn’t for Mum pushing me I probably wouldn’t have done it,” Hamlet admits. But the classes succeeded, and a love affair with fashion was born. Hamlet pored over Vogue magazines as a child, played “dress-ups all day”, and was the kid who turned up to school in tiaras and tutus. She was 16 when she decided she wanted to take her modelling seriously. To do that, she decided, the next step was to get behind the camera. She started working as a photographer’s assistant, taking copious notes from both models and photographers. “I wanted to figure out the whole photography world, and to learn about working behind the camera,” she explains. At the same time she started a sports science degree at the University of WA and worked as a flight attendant at Virgin, before her big break arrived via Priscillas. Hamlet sent the agency some pictures she had taken at home and they replied the next day. Her move to Sydney was in train. “I didn’t expect it to be so soon, it’s such a blessing,” she says. “But I always believed in myself, I never doubted myself. It takes a lot of self-belief. I feel like it was something I was born to do, it’s my passion.” Her parents were understandably wary that their daughter was jetting off to the other side of the country. “They questioned me a lot, they called me every night to make sure I was OK. I was like ‘It’s OK, I’ve got this. Trust me.’” Had COVID-19 not thrown a spanner in the works, Hamlet would have had her sights set on international travel and fashion weeks in New York, Paris and Milan. London, where she was recently signed by Storm Models, will be her first destination when she can one day get back on a plane. In the meantime she has several, still under wraps, projects under way in Australia. Hamlet lives in Bondi, where she first fell in love with her adopted home town, and has found a tight-knit circle of like-minded, creative friends, including fashion designer and photographer boyfriend of 12 months, Kingsley McLean. “He’s pretty much my support person, it’s great having someone who is in the industry and so supportive,” she says. The pair have been holed up in their beachside home during Sydney’s lockdown, both using the time to work on personal creative projects while enjoying morning swims and perfecting sushi making. It is fitting that Hamlet, a rising star of Australian modelling, was paired with fashion royalty and fellow WA country girl Nicole Trunfio for the WA on Stage campaign. The pair had not met until their shoot in Perth and developed an immediate affinity. “I have never felt such a synergy with another model,” Trunfio told STM while back in Perth with her family. “I feel like we’re a match made in heaven and we work so well together. I definitely have a connection with WA country girls.” Hamlet, in turn, described Trunfio as an amazing role model. “We are such a good team, it’s so nice working with someone professional, as I take my job so seriously.” Perth-based R&B artist Adrian Dzvuke also took part in the WA on Stage campaign, and will perform as part of a four-day celebration of music, food, free pop-ups and store offers on Thursday when stage one of the new-look centre — including 60 fashion and food stores — is launched. AMP Capital’s Scott Nugent says new retail hub The Loop boasts sporting brands, streetwear and lifestyle retailers. “We are so excited to welcome the people of Perth to the new-look Karrinyup for the first time following nearly three years of development work,” he says. “To be able to mark the occasion with a stellar line-up of homegrown talent from across the food and entertainment industries feels like a fitting way to celebrate our first launch event.” Hamlet is still pinching herself at landing the Karrinyup campaign. “I used to go there and couldn’t really afford anything there, and now I’m the face of it, so it’s pretty wild. It’s hard to wrap my head around,” she says. As a proud Indigenous woman, Hamlet is aware of the platform she has been given and plans to use it wisely. “I’m still so young and still learning and I’ve only just been given this platform, and I guess I’m trying to figure out what to do with it,” she admits. “But I feel very passionate about being a voice for young Indigenous girls and a role model. I feel like just through doing what I love so passionately, I can have an impact on their lives and give them hope and something to aspire to. “I came from nothing, and I’m out here living my dream. If I can do it, they can do it.” Stylist: Emma Read (DLM) / Hair: Richi Grisillo (Saunders & Co) using WELLA / Make-Up: Mikele Simone (DLM) using Mecca Cosmetica

Billie-Jean Hamlet: ‘I came from nothing and I’m out here living my dream’

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