About Sunzi

Elissa grew up on the sun-soaked shores of Australia learning as much as possible about the Indigenous peoples of her homeland. She learned to sew on her mother’s old singer at the early age of eight and developed an obsession for colour and creative clothing. After traveling the world working as a designer and seamstress from the stages of Warner Brothers to the Theatres of the West End of London, she settled down in New York with her multicultural family. There, in the largest melting pot on earth, the idea for Sunzi was born. A fusion of the ancient Aboriginal stories of her homeland, and her love of luxury fabrics, Sunzi is Elissa’s vehicle for sharing age old stories of her First Nation Australians, particularly the Warlpiri people of the Tanami Desert who have opened their arms and allowed Elissa to learn from them and share with you. Elissa embraces the Warlpiri culture. Elissa has been honored with her own skin name “Nampijinpa” by the Elders of Yuendumu. The name “Nampijinpa” is custodian of the rain Dreaming stories for which there is an initiation. The name means water that reflects in the sky. Belonging to the Kangaroo, the north and the colour blue and The Emu Sleeping group. This honorable name holds responsibilities for the protection of the water Dreaming songlines. Through her collaborations with Warlpiri artists, Elissa Nampijinpa hopes to help the Warlpiri elders make Aboriginal Australian culture and philosophy understandable to the wider world. Read their story