In partnership with RIMOWA

The best ramen Billie Jean Hamlet has ever eaten exists somewhere inside an airport in Tokyo. She can’t remember the name of the place, only the incredible flavour of it – a layover meal so perfect that even now, as we sit and speak in the makeup chair of her RUSSH digital cover, it still lingers in her mind with unusual clarity. “Nothing’s ever compared to it,” she says. “So yeah, my most memorable in-transit moment was definitely at that airport.”

There’s something revealing about that memory being tied not to a destination, but to the space in-between. Airports, hotel rooms, long-haul flights, unfamiliar cities glimpsed through car windows en route to before-dawn call times – these are the environments that have shaped Hamlet’s adulthood. It's a sensibility that underpins RIMOWA too – this idea of imbuing a sense of permanence within the impermanence. For more than a century, the brand has approached travel as an extension of personal evolution, shaped as much by experience and perspective as destination itself. And now, with the introduction of its new seasonal Orange and Magenta colourways across the Essential and Groove collections, they continue that dialogue through colour – inspired by the optimistic energy of Pop design.

Despite the velocity of Hamlet's career, she doesn’t speak like someone consumed by motion. Modelling from such a young age accelerated her relationship to the world, compressing experience into constant movement. “You grow up so quickly,” she says. “You experience so much life, so young.” She has grown intimately familiar with the caravanserai of colourful travellers one encounters in transit – heiresses and jet-setters and luxury executives, under-packers and over-packers, tourists, parents, athletes and pop stars – enough to inhabit them effortlessly on set, channelling their distinct energies into the technicolour world of RIMOWA.

There’s a strong sense of return embedded in the way she navigates the world – emotionally, spiritually, geographically. When asked about a journey that fundamentally shifted her perspective, her answer arrives immediately: returning home to Fitzroy Crossing (Ngurturwarta) in the Kimberleys for the first time in almost eight years.

“I feel like it kind of brought me back to myself,” she says. “And reminded me who I am and what my purpose in life really is – which is to pave the way for Indigenous girls and boys, and to show them that anything is possible. It really filled up my cup and gave me a renewed drive to continue on with my journey in this industry.”

Purpose sits at the centre of Hamlet’s presence in a way that feels instinctive. Even discussing travel – an experience fashion tends to romanticise endlessly – she gravitates towards the emotional residue places leave behind instead of their mythology. New York City, for instance, isn’t framed through landmarks or glamour. “It’s addictive,” she says. “It’s the thrill and the rush of being in the big concrete jungle. But it’s a bit of a love-hate relationship – I’m such a nature girl at heart.”

Travel can be both routine and disruption for Hamlet, but the rituals she’s developed while moving constantly are centred on maximising comfort. “When I first arrive somewhere new, I love to unpack and make myself feel at home,” she says. “A FaceTime call to my boyfriend to check in with my dog and loved ones also just puts me at ease.”

But sometimes grounding comes from a little indulgence, too. “There’s always an early call time the next day, so I do love to order in as well,” she admits. “I love to get cozy, and really make use of the bathtubs, too.” Then, laughing: “Of course, I also love a good hotel bar.”

Hamlet is someone deeply familiar with departure lounges and arrivals halls, although she’s the first to admit she approaches packing with very little precision. “I’m very ‘Type B’,” she says. “I kind of just throw everything in last-minute.” Predictably, “my baggage is always overweight.” She chides that she recently forgot her passport while travelling to Los Angeles for Coachella – “so I’m probably not a good person to ask about my packing non-negotiables!” she laughs.

What she does travel consistently with, however, are more creative essentials than pragmatic ones: “I always bring my headphones with me. I need good music while I’m on a flight. And a good book, always.” Music, especially, has become a form of stillness. Amidst constant transit, she describes moments where she simply puts her headphones on, stares out the window and lets her thoughts drift. “I love just checking out and letting my brain wander.”

Her current soundtrack? “Justin Bieber, obviously.”

There’s a refreshing absence of over-curation in the way Hamlet speaks about herself. She doesn’t flatten her experiences into life lessons or perform self-awareness for effect. There’s a playfulness to her presence too – something echoed in RIMOWA’s latest seasonal palette. Warm lacquered orange, rich magenta – expressive tones that bring a sense of momentum and playful confidence to the set without overwhelming it. “With my first big girl check, I went straight to RIMOWA and got the Trunk, the Medium, and the Carry-On,” she says with a laugh, before adding: "It was some big boss energy!" Even social media enters the conversation with humour intact. When asked what she instinctively does upon arriving somewhere new, her response is immediate: “Take photos, obviously. Maybe upload an Instagram story.”

Still, beneath the humour is someone acutely aware of how travel has shaped her identity. “It has made me so much more worldly – getting to see the world with what I do.” Perhaps that’s why Tokyo continues calling her back – not because of fashion or aesthetics alone, but possibility. “I need to actually make a trip to Tokyo and do some vintage shopping, have some matcha, some good sushi – snowboard. All of that good stuff. There’s so much to do there, it’s endless.”

Listening to Hamlet speak, it becomes clear that the journey, for her, isn’t really about escape. It’s about collecting moments, places, memories, versions of herself. A bowl of ramen during a layover. A FaceTime call from a hotel bed. The rush of New York. Returning home to Country after years away. And somewhere inside all that motion, she’s managed to remain entirely grounded within herself.

PHOTOGRAPHY James Tolich

EXECUTIVE FASHION DIRECTOR Hannah Cooper

FASHION Thomas Townsend

TALENT Billie Jean Hamlet @ IMG

HAIR Darren Summors @ AP—REPS

MAKEUP Katie Angus @ AP—REPS

DIGITAL OPERATER Christopher Hendriks

PHOTOGRAPHER’S ASSISTANT Cameron Lloyd

FASHION ASSISTANT Koby Dulac-Daley

STYLIST’S ASSISTANT Jade Carpenter

VIDEO Sam Correy

Feature image (left): FENDI shirt, skirt and shoes; RIMOWA luggage. Feature image (right): REBECCA VALLANCE jacket and trousers; CELINE shirt and scarf; ROGER VIVIER shoes; RIMOWA luggage.