Moving to Adelaide was a world-shifting experience for Rin Models founder Juach Cyer, and led to a major shift in diversity in the Australian fashion industry.

I would’ve been two when we left [South Sudan]. I’ve got family in Sydney, but I moved here towards the end of 2009.

It was probably the best thing ever, to move to Adelaide. I hated it, but you look back now and it’s given me a different perspective on so many different things.

This article first appeared in our Spring 2022 Fashion Edition, on streets now

I came from a strict household. Mum was always being protective, doesn’t want you hanging out with crew. There was only certain stuff I could’ve done, and my house was next to a skate park.

The agency, the idea is between me and my cousin, Rin [Dut]. We’re related, but he’d mind his own business. I was skating, and a lot of the other African kids weren’t skating. It was like, ‘Man, why are you skating? That’s some white boy shit’. But he found that interesting. And as he got to know me, me and him found out we’re very similar.

Rin was doing fashion, and me being curious, I was like, ‘How does this work?’ He just started talking about what he was passionate about, what he wanted to do. I was like, ‘This is pretty interesting. I think it’s a great idea’.

He wanted to do his own label, he had a concept, and he wanted to make it very diverse. In order to do that, we needed to go to a few agencies. They didn’t have the models we wanted, which was just models of colour. We were like, ‘Shit’.

That clicked an idea – there’s a market there. I was 18, finishing school. For an 18-year-old to go to a brand like Myer, they’re not going to take you seriously. We’re going to have to have a point of difference. Our point of difference was being the first agency to specialise in people of colour.

We never officially launched the label. We were supposed to launch in 2015, but that’s when Rin passed. He had an accident in early 2015. We were about to launch the agency and launch the brand.

It’s one thing we started together while he was here, and it only made sense to do that. I named the business to honour him. It felt good to continue on with his legacy. It was not easy then, and still not easy now, because you always have at the back of your head what they would have done.

The first time I started sending out emails, the reply that I got back was, ‘Why would you do shit like this? This is reverse racism.’ I’m like, ‘What did I do? I’m starting a business like anyone else’. And like I said – point of difference.

Rin Models is the agency that has given Australia the biggest models to ever come out of Australia. I would probably say bigger than Miranda Kerr – that’s how big it is. I signed Adut Akech at 14.

Since Adut has come into the fashion scene, there’s been more diverse models. So even within the Australian fashion scene, we play a huge role.

When I’m doing something like Rin Models, I don’t do it for the success. It’s if I’ve had this growth, what does it allow me to do for others? My reason for doing things, it’s different for someone else running a different agency.

Here’s an example: mental health in the African community, horrible for today’s generation. I spoke to a few local people in the community, and as soon as I said something, they’re like, ‘Oh man, thank god. We were just waiting for you to say something, because we knew there was one person that could actually get it started, it’s you’.

Rin Models is a platform that allows me to do other things. This is the stuff that I learned from Rin. I was never like this. But before he left, he said this to me: ‘If you’re ever in a position in life to help someone, help’.

Sydney and Melbourne, that’s where I make my money for the business. Adelaide’s great. I started here. I met Rin here. It changed my view. That’s what I mean, moving to Adelaide is one of the best things that could’ve happened to me.

I’ve been told to move to Sydney. I can move to Sydney. My brother has a spare room for me over there. I can. But I like this balance that I’ve got. It works for me right now, and that’s all that matters. What’s the saying? Don’t fix something that isn’t broken.

I’ve been lucky enough, I’ve experienced life a lot, been around so many people, and that’s what’s shaped me. And that’s what’s made me view life the way I view life.

I’ve never searched for acceptance. That’s why it was normal for me to continue Rin Models when people were denying me, because I never did it to be accepted by them. I have a purpose, and if I reach that target, that’s all that matters.

Juach and Unc on Pirie Street