Some news lands quietly. Some makes you reread the message, blink a few times and wonder whether they have confused you with somebody else.
Being nominated in the 2026 Better Homes and Gardens People’s Choice Creator Awards was very much the second kind.
A very big little moment
I did not win. And honestly? That does not make the nomination feel any less extraordinary.
FOKE was considered alongside creators from across Australia: artists, makers, designers, cooks, renovators and people building remarkable things with their hands and imaginations. Better Homes and Gardens described me as the founder and designer of a print-led fashion label making bold, comfortable clothing in sizes 8–24.
Seeing my name there made me properly stoked.
A small, colourful label from Kyneton was noticed on a national stage.
Why being considered mattered
FOKE began with drawings, colour and the stubborn belief that women deserve clothes that feel joyful without asking their bodies to become smaller, quieter or easier to dress.
Most days, running a small label looks much less glamorous than an awards list. It is sketches and samples, fit decisions, emails, packing, problem-solving and trying something again when the first version is not quite right.
That is why this nomination meant so much. It felt like someone had looked at all those small decisions: the art, the fit, the colour, the purpose behind it, and said, “Yes. This belongs here too.”
The part I am keeping
A win would have been lovely. Obviously. But being considered among creators from all over Australia was already an incredible honour.
It reminded me that meaningful moments do not always arrive with a trophy. Sometimes they arrive as your name on a list you never imagined making, and the sudden realisation that the strange, colourful thing you have been building is travelling further than you knew.
See the BHG nominees
READ THE BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS FEATURE →
Thank you to Better Homes and Gardens, and to whoever put my name forward. I was, and still am, absolutely chuffed.
Holly x
