Design weeks are good for the local community and the local design economy – on that, I think we can all agree. They give designers and makers the opportunity to create new work, find exposure beyond their known networks, source new commissions, or get concepts off the ground and into production.

In turn, that builds confidence to enter competitions, form new relationships, and have your work recognised. It injects a sense of energy, prosperity and togetherness into a local design community, and for visitors like myself, pulled in from other states or countries, it offers the chance to learn and contribute.

At Fremantle Design Week last month, I could instantly discern the kinship and self-contained identity of Western Australia’s design scene. Across major exhibitions, including Reverie with Jessica Alice Design at The Naval Store, and Imagine: Material Stories with Design Steward and Future Materials at PS Art Space, there was a clear sense of work born uniquely of its place, environment, culture and lifestyle, as well as the resources at hand.

There was a quality and curiosity to the work – across art, object, furnishing, fashion and installation design alike – that responded to Western Australia’s own local market demands and trans-continental links. But zoom out to a national perspective, and that uniquely Australian trait remains: the boundless curiosity driven by wanderlust, and an ability to look outwards with an enquiring spirit to feed expertise, ingenuity and enterprise.

For Reverie, Jessica Rayment of Jessica Alice Design brought together a broad group of local designers, makers and artists to create an immersive environment composed of furniture, lighting, art and objects. This was no small staging, and she successfully transformed a large, open warehouse space into an experience that, like a journey, unfolded with every step, revealing new treasures and rare finds with every turn of the head. (As it happens, too, Jessica won multiple industry awards last month, including the Residential Interior award at The (Emerging) Designer Awards – a testament to what hard work and increased visibility can achieve.)

Pieces that stood out included Adyn Kelly’s Alumina series, comprising a dining and coffee table, and chairs. These exotic multi-legged pieces were topped with exquisite natural stone slabs honed only to reveal their natural qualities.

As a presenting partner, Artedomus supported the curation of Reverie, contributing a selection of Japanese tiles, natural stone, Mutina Bricks, New Volumes furnishings and accessories in earth-hued Italian Marrone terracotta, as well as highly crafted Agape-designed bathware.

Present in the carefully staged mix was a Banksia Side Table by Mark Lilly of Manner. His work, including ‘Towards A New Vernacular’ and the NGV-acquired Banksia Chair, has firmly positioned him as a local luminary; the side table fits into the collection with its clover-leaf motif and laminated, turned Banksia seed pods.

I also paused over the work of artist, designer and maker Douglas Powell of Duzi Objects. His work moves between furniture, objects and sculpture and I especially liked his metal work which produces forms that defy material affordances.

I had the pleasure of meeting early career designer Jake Von Oertzen, who has been sourcing pieces of Western Australian stone to use as both the central feature and the foundational structure of his limited-edition lights – pieces that are collectible, but with the potential to become production pieces too.

Another body of work that stood out for me was Lisa Piller of Design Steward’s Walking in Circles, Regenerative stories of fibre, fabric and fashion in Western Australia.

Staged at the PS Art Space, it was a beautiful and comprehensive showcase of circular and regenerative textile design and production in Western Australia. Working with Kimberley cotton, regeneratively farmed merino wool, recycled uniforms, as well as seaweed and food-waste fibres, Lisa presented five collaborative design capsules that demonstrated how these WA-grown and recovered fibres have been transformed into beautiful, skilfully tailored fashion garments. Circular design in action, and clearly demonstrated by Lisa, too.

I can happily say that after this, my third WA design week experience in three years, I’ve had the ‘west coast awakening’. I can’t wait to see what Fremantle’s design scene – not to mention the wider Perth community – will show us in years to come.