Just five years ago, she was a 15-year-old making “not very cute but funny” dancing videos with her brother on TikTok – to stave off the boredom of Covid lockdown in her hometown of Darwin – when she was scouted by a modelling talent agent. Perry says it was divine timing; were she 15 now, when anyone who is 16 and under in Australia is banned from holding a social media account, life would look very different. “I was so lucky,” the now 20-year-old First Nations model tells Stellar of being scouted. “I literally wouldn’t be here today, talking to you right now, if it wasn’t for TikTok.” That might be a generous assessment. With her looks and charisma, there’s a strong chance that Perry, a proud Gamulkbun and Kokatha woman, would still have made her way to the catwalk. In the years since, she’s walked for Australian Fashion Week three times: in 2022, 2025, and just a week ago for Aje.
In August last year, not long after she appeared on the cover of Vogue Australia with fellow First Nations models Latahlia Hickling and Em Stenberg, Perry was flown to Europe. Once there, she walked in Chanel’s spring/summer 2026 show at Paris Fashion Week, the first of creative director Matthieu Blazy. Reflecting on the show, Perry admits, “The nerves got the better of me that night.” It may not have mattered, since immediately after, she was signed to an agency in Paris. “I’ve had so many pinch-me moments over the years,” she says. “Walking in the Australian Fashion Week is so good because it keeps me grounded. “When I went to Paris, I looked back at Australian Fashion Week and how far I’d come – that was definitely a pinch-me moment. “Especially being a girl from Darwin, we’re so disconnected with all this fashion around the world. Even to this day, I still think, did I actually go to Paris?” Growing up in the Northern Territory, it was athletics, rather than aesthetics, that were top of Perry’s mind.
She’s played Australian rules football since the age of 10, and in 2024 was selected for the under-18 national championships. She comes from AFL royalty, too – Perry is the niece of former players Aaron and Alwyn Davey, and cousin of Alwyn Jnr and Jayden Davey.
While some people are surprised to learn that she’s both a model and an athlete – she also plays soccer and basketball – Perry says the dual roles have helped her find balance. “Sometimes I could get in my head with footy a bit much, so I think modelling and stepping away from that sort of environment is really good to open my mind up a bit. “And,” she adds with a laugh, “it’s very good to realise that, physically and mentally, I can use my body in different ways – tackling someone or chasing someone.” Tackling will be put on hold for the moment, though, as Perry is now a little over 20 weeks pregnant with her first baby, a boy. “I’m feeling pretty well,” she says. “I haven’t had many complications at the moment. “It’s still very surreal. It feels kind of emotional, it feels a lot better to start saying it out loud. “Being a young mum, it’s kind of scary and nerve-racking.
But growing up with such a big, supportive family, and the support of my agency, I don’t feel like it’s taking – but only adding – more purpose to my life.” Equally as supportive is Perry’s partner of three-and-a-half years and high-school sweetheart, Isaiah. “He’s so thrilled to become a dad,” she says. “Now that everyone is starting to know, it’s just more excitement than anything else.” Baby names are still up in the air, but Perry already knows that whatever her child wants to do in life, be it modelling or playing Australian rules football – or both or none – she approves. Growing up, she looked to fellow First Nations model Samantha Harris for inspiration, and says she feels humbled by the possibility of now being an inspiration herself to her own child, and a role model for younger Australians, especially those with an Indigenous heritage. “I had some young girls in Darwin come up and say that what I’m doing is very cool, and they’d love to do it, too. Listen to a new episode of the Stellar podcast, Something To Talk About, below: “Honestly, it just makes me even more happy about what I’m doing – to see this girl from Darwin doing something great and that they can also take whatever they’re dreaming about to the next level. It is the best thing.” Perry has no plans to stop working, and looks forward to travelling overseas and continuing her careers in both modelling and football after she welcomes her son.
For now though, she says being home in Darwin (she splits her time between there and Sydney) is a balm for any anxieties or worries she may have about impending motherhood. “Darwin is so different from the major cities in Australia,” she tells Stellar. “It’s about being free and being connected to nature. Very outdoors, very grounded. I love it so much. “Some of my favourite memories are the simplest ones: watching the sunset, road trips, camping, just very simple and different. When I’m not in Darwin, I miss my family, and how connected you feel to the place.” Having learnt how far hard work can take you over her past few years, Perry is determined to pass on that wisdom to her child. “I want to teach them to be hardworking and resilient, but also to be present in the moment, and to enjoy it,” she explains. “Balance looks a lot different for a lot of people. “Now I’m just trying to stay in the present, and focus on what I can.
I’m really loving life.” See the full cover shoot with Tatyana Perry in Stellar, via the Sunday papers. For more from Stellar, click here. Originally published as ‘I’ve had so many pinch-me moments’: Tatyana Perry on Chanel runways, her pregnancy and plans for the future