Larrakia man Shaun Edwards, founder of House of Darwin

Larrakia man Shaun Edwards used to play for Greater Western Sydney Giants and Essendon AFL clubs, but when the now 28-year-old retired at 23 he wanted to channel his energy into giving back to the remote Northern Territory communities he calls home.

“House of Darwin is a social enterprise clothing label born out of our homeland – the Northern Territory,” says Edwards. “We tell the story of one of the last true frontiers in Australia – the NT – in a fun and graphical way that can take people to a place they might not get the opportunity to travel to.”

House of Darwin (HOD) is more than a fashion label; as a social enterprise, it reinvests its funds back into Indigenous communities. Its current initiative is Hoop Dreams in the NT – a project to refurbish community basketball courts with murals designed in collaboration with locals.

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“We know that basketball courts act as a central point of health, dance and wellbeing for many Northern Territory communities,” explains Edwards. “Refurbishing a basketball court with an engaging mural will have great health and wellbeing outcomes.”

The idea for HOD came about two years ago, when Edwards was living with Ksubi founder and designer Dan Single in LA. Edwards was working for Aime Mentoring at the time and he was inspired by the work it did and wanted to bring the same mentoring and social enterprise efforts to the Territory. Inspiration struck when there was the opportunity to enter the annual Darwin Street Art Festival in 2020. Edwards collaborated with long-time friend and artist Luna Tunes (Liam Milner) on a 10-metre mural in Darwin’s CBD.

“We came up with the HOD style and just went for it,” says Edwards. Now it’s a fully-fledged apparel label featuring a unisex range of T-shirts, shirts, hats and totes, as well as its own brand of locally roasted coffee beans, Outback Roast Espresso.

Milner now heads up HOD’s designs. “We are constantly travelling around meeting new people and hearing stories of how different parts of the NT were shaped by [the people who] call the NT home,” says Edwards. “The unique characters up here play a huge role in the designs.”

The colourful graphic designs feature notable NT references such as a map of the Stuart Highway printed on a tea towel, or a Change the Date T-shirt that reads “Respect Your Elders”. It’s a tight collection of items you might wear in the NT, such as a Kakadu bucket hat, or a T-shirt repping Nitmiluk Gorge complete with croc, helicopter and kayaking illustrations on the back.

T-shirts range from $29.95 to $60, and there are accessories such as sticker packs and a camping mug with the House of Darwin logo available. All the items can be bought online, or at the social enterprise’s shop in Darwin. Though the apparel is all about sharing stories from the NT, the main cause for HOD is reinvesting profits back into the community – and it has. So far, HOD has invested $80,000 back into social programs and not-for-profits across the Northern Territory.

“We’re super proud of that,” says Edwards. “It might not change the world but something as simple of restoring a basketball court can provide a safe place for a young member of the community to hang and be safe.”