Proud Gooreng Gooreng and South Sea Islander woman Juanita Page is more than just the brains behind Melbourne/Naarm-based menswear brand JOSEPH & JAMES. She’s also one of the few female designers shaping the country’s modern menswear offerings.

From establishing the elevated streetwear label in 2021 to debuting their solo runway show at Australian Fashion Week on May 13th, it’s been one heck of a journey for Juanita. We caught up for a chinwag with the rad creative to pick her brain about all things personal fashion, Aussie menswear and carving out her own space in the industry.

Where did your love of fashion come from? I was about 10 when I first became hooked on fashion – sitting with my mum on the couch, glued to the TV, completely captivated by red carpet moments and runway shows. There was something about the way a garment could transform a person and tell a story without a single word. Back then, it was all about the drama of gowns and the romance of runways. I dreamt of making my own transformative pieces for those moments. Over time, that dream evolved into less about spectacle and more about creating pieces that slot seamlessly into someone's life – garments that move with them, empower them and celebrate their journey.

Who are the titular people that JOSEPH & JAMES is named after? Joseph and James are drawn from the middle names of my dad and my husband; a nod to the main men in my life. They’re men who value hard work, who are steady, trustworthy, reliable, men who show up and do what they say they’ll do. When I was naming the brand, it felt right to anchor it to those qualities. I want JOSEPH & JAMES to represent that same spirit: a brand that’s built on care, integrity and craft, where what we put out into the world feels considered and lasting.What has the journey been like between establishing the brand in 2021 and having it show at AFW next week? It has been a journey of carving out space where there wasn’t much of a blueprint to follow. When we launched in 2021, it felt like stepping into a part of the industry that was still finding its feet – especially in Australia, where most of the attention leans towards womenswear. Building JOSEPH & JAMES has meant not just designing collections, but proving there’s a place for a different kind of menswear here. So, showing at AFW isn’t just about putting clothes on a runway – it feels like joining a bigger conversation about where Australian menswear can go next.

Menswear labels in Australia are lacking in both quantity and retailer attention – why do you think that is? I think a lot of it comes down to infrastructure. There’s incredible talent here – designers, stylists, makers – but we’re still building the platforms that help menswear thrive: more retail backing, more runway opportunities, more media attention. The cool thing is, there’s so much room to build something uniquely Australian if we’re willing to back it.

Why have you chosen to focus on menswear specifically? What draws you to it? When I was studying fashion, almost everyone around me gravitated towards womenswear. It wasn’t a prerequisite, but it almost felt like the unspoken expectation. That made me question – who was designing for the others? And what could that look like if it broke away from rigid stereotypes? Once I started designing menswear, I realised how much I loved the creative tension between structure and ease. I found myself drawn to tailoring – the precision of it – but I also loved subverting it, bringing in streetwear codes to create something more lived-in and real. Menswear just felt like a space where I could say something new.How do you think your world-view as a proud Gooreng Gooreng and South Sea Islander woman brings a uniqueness to designing menswear? Every designer brings the sum of their experiences to the table – you can’t help it. Being a Gooreng Gooreng and South Sea Islander woman, navigating both community and contemporary spaces, I naturally bring a different lens to the work. I’m drawn to the quiet power of garments, to making pieces that are expressive without being loud. There's also a deep respect for balance in everything I create: ambition tempered with patience, structure softened by freedom. I think that perspective – along with growing up questioning how spaces are built and who they're built for – quietly informs the brand's DNA.

How has designing menswear seeped into your own personal style? I think that the more time you spend immersed in an aesthetic, the more it naturally becomes a part of you. I’m drawn to pieces that have structure but still feel relaxed – clothes you can live in but also carry a sense of intention. My personal style echoes a lot of what we do at JOSEPH & JAMES: relaxed tailoring, quality fabrics, a balance between understated and expressive. It’s quite symbiotic.

If you could dress anyone in top-to-toe JOSEPH & JAMES, who would it be? Colman Domingo. His presence is magnetic – equal parts elegance, vulnerability and power. He has this rare ability to inhabit clothes in a way that feels effortless but deeply intentional, which is exactly the balance we aim for at JOSEPH & JAMES. Dressing someone like Colman wouldn’t just be about the clothes; it would be about celebrating the richness of character and story that great menswear can hold.

You can get a load of JOSEPH & JAMES at Australian Fashion Week on May 13th at Carriageworks in Sydney/Warrane.