There are 1,375 medication blister packs in Olga Blake-McKenzie’s ballgown. Every one was cleaned and hand-painted before finding its place in a creation that looks a world away from the household rubbish bin.
The garment, called Homeostasis, is one of the more unusual pieces to emerge from the Kallangur designer’s creative world, where discarded packaging can become elaborate fashion and a character imagined on paper can eventually take shape in fabric.
It is a world that has brought Olga, known professionally as OLLYMACS, recognition in 2026. She was named Designer of the Year in the South East Queensland Women in Fashion awards, recognition for an artist who has spent decades sewing but established her wearable-art label only four years ago.
Her creations can look more like theatrical costumes or sculptures than conventional fashion.
The Art of Seeing Something Different
Olga has been sewing for more than 50 years, although OLLYMACS did not emerge until 2022. Her garments express characters, experiences and ideas rather than simply follow fashion trends.
History and mythology inspire queens, warriors and imagined personalities, expressed through dramatic silhouettes and elaborate embellishments.
Silk and velvet can sit alongside discarded plastics. Antique-shop discoveries find their way into costumes, while packaging that has served its original purpose takes on an entirely different role.
One creation incorporated insulated food-delivery packaging. With Homeostasis, medication blister packs became the defining feature of a ballgown exploring the relationship between medication, wellbeing and the environment.
During a September 2026 Project Emerald Collective podcast, Olga’s wearable-art designs were described as containing at least 80 per cent recycled materials. It is a reported figure, rather than an independently audited measure.
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The finished garments give little indication of the work involved. Olga has previously estimated that an individual creation can take between 100 and 300 hours, a considerable investment in something that may be seen on a runway for only a few minutes.
A Creative Life Finding New Audiences
The past year has brought Olga’s work before audiences well beyond Moreton Bay. Alongside her Women in Fashion recognition, she has spoken about receiving the Most Creative Designer of the Year award at Darwin Fashion Week. Her designs also appeared in Melbourne’s Couture Carnival showcase in October.
Unlike many designers, Olga launched her label after decades of creative exploration.
In an August interview with fashion writer Suzanne Dang, she discussed embracing a new direction later in life. The label has brought her interests in fashion, mythology and storytelling together.
When the Clothes Have Stories of Their Own
A garment can suggest a character, but Olga has taken the idea further by giving some of those characters their own written stories.
Her publishing project, We Wear Our Stories, brings together wearable-art creations and fiction. The first volume, Timelines in Threads, was the focus of a launch event scheduled for 30 October at Kedron-Wavell RSL in Chermside and is now offered through the project’s website.
Among the characters is Magenta, whose story explores the idea that people need not move through life according to somebody else’s timetable. Other stories draw on identity, resilience and the experiences that shape individuals, with garments providing visual interpretations of those ideas.
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The book gives Olga’s creations another life beyond the runway, where finer details can be missed as a garment passes before an audience.
After more than half a century of sewing, she is finding new ways to combine the things that have long fascinated her, from possibilities hidden in discarded materials to the characters that inspire her designs. For this Kallangur artist, a piece of packaging may have finished one job, but that does not necessarily mean its story is over.
Published 12-Nov-2026
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