IT WAS an exciting - albeit daunting - prospect when Laura Thompson was approached to design Carlton’s 2021 AFL Indigenous guernsey.
 
The Managing Director of Clothing the Gaps – an Aboriginal-owned and led social enterprise aimed at helping to ‘close the gap’ of life-expectancies between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians - Thompson was eager to create a guernsey that represented the Club’s Indigenous players as well it’s staff, members and fans.

 “The first thing I thought about when designing the jumper was the Indigenous players that play for Carlton,” Thompson said.
 
“The seven Indigenous players – I really wanted to represent them in the jumper. Their mobs, their country and their family.
 
“It was also important to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which the Carlton Football Club is located, so it was important to recognise the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation.”

A proud Gunditjmara woman, Thompson spent time researching the different mobs and cultures of Carlton’s seven current Indigenous players in order to best represent them on the guernsey.
 
The mob names listed on either side of the guernsey pay tribute to each player’s unique history, their connection to the land and a part of their own story of their journey to the Carlton Football Club.
 
The campfires on the shoulders of the design pay tribute to the entire Carlton family and individually highlight everyone who is a part of the Carlton community.

For Thompson, the guernsey reflects the same attitude she brings to her designs with Clothing the Gaps – fashion that represents a proud Indigenous culture while also generating conversation among those who wear it.
 
“I was one of those people when I stepped out of the house: what can I wear to represent my cultural identity, my Aboriginality and represent my culture,” she said.
 
“I was so excited. It was always on my wish list that one day I’d get to design an Indigenous guernsey and, for me, to be able to do that with one of my friends Eddie Betts while he’s playing was an absolute privilege and I’m absolutely stoked to be able to do that.
 
“I’m really proud of how the jumper has come out and I really hope for the Indigenous players, most importantly and their families, that this resonates with them and people use this opportunity to look at the language groups and see where these countries are and maybe do some research on the players and see which mob is connected to which player.”

Stay tuned over the coming weeks to hear more from Laura Thompson and the work that she is doing at Clothing the Gaps.
 
To find out more about the ‘Free the Flag’ movement, click here.