Marrickville’s Rachel Gallagher Heads to US Pageant
- neighbourhoodmedia
- Jun 23
- 3 min read
Beauty Queen, Advocate, Educator: How One Local is Taking Marrickville Values Global
Marrickville’s own Rachel Gallagher is packing more than gowns and heels for her upcoming trip to the US, where she’ll represent the Australia Pacific region in the international finals of International United Ms. this July.
By Melissa Mantle
Crowned International United Ms. Australia Pacific in October 2024, Gallagher is one of a growing cohort of modern beauty queens using the pageant stage as a platform for social and environmental impact.
Modern Beauty Pageants
“Being a beauty queen today isn’t like what it was 50 years ago,” she says. “Modern beauty pageants are about building a community of women who have an ambition to serve others, as well as having the opportunity for self-development and confidence building.”
Gallagher, who has a background in education and content writing, discovered the world of pageantry through Instagram in 2018. “After years competing as an Irish dancer, I was keen to get back on stage,” she recalls. “What I didn’t realise at the time was just how much pageantry would shape the direction of my life.”
Since taking home the national title, Gallagher has logged over 50 hours of volunteer work across Sydney - from Clean Up Australia Day and fun runs to community gift wrapping and walking in the Sydney St Patrick’s Day Parade.
Advocating for Sustainable Fashion
But the centrepiece of her advocacy is About Your Clothes, a sustainability education platform she founded to help Australians better understand the impact of their wardrobes - from landfill to labour rights.
“Sustainability can bring out a wide range of emotions, and I think it’s important to acknowledge that with empathy,” she says. “Shame and blame don’t drive change, but connection and understanding do.”
Gallagher’s work through About Your Clothes includes workshops and collaborations with organisations like the United Nations Environment Programme and Climate Action Week Sydney.
“It started as a simple way to answer the same sustainable fashion questions from friends and family… and has grown into something much bigger,” she says. “Hearing from people months after a workshop, and knowing that the experience has stayed with them or shifted how they see the world, is one of the most rewarding parts of this work.”
Rachel Gallagher's Love For Marrickville
For Gallagher, Marrickville has been a source of inspiration. “I’ve been able to meet people who care deeply about their community and the environment,” she says.
“Marrickville is a place where op shops, local markets, and reuse opportunities are more visible than fast fashion stores, and that’s influenced the way I think about style and sustainability. It’s part self-expression, part creative problem-solving.”
With Prime Minister Anthony Albanese - also the local MP for Grayndler - recently re-elected, Gallagher sees an opportunity to put sustainable fashion higher on the political agenda.
“We know Australians are the highest consumers of clothing globally – on average, we buy 56 items per person each year – and the fashion waste stream is a growing concern,” she says.
“Fashion and textiles haven’t featured greatly in the Future Made in Australia initiative yet, but there’s real potential for local clothing production and circular fashion infrastructure to support climate goals, create skilled jobs, and infuse Australian talent into the sustainable fashion conversation globally.”
Gallagher believes Marrickville could be a natural launchpad for that shift. “I’d love to see more collaboration between government, community education, and industry to make sustainable fashion the norm.”
Rachel Prepares To Take To The International Stage
As she prepares to take the stage at the International United Ms. finals, Gallagher carries her community with her.
“I want my International United Miss community to see just how future-focused and genuinely community-minded the people of Marrickville are,” she says. “That mindset of being open, grounded, and connected is something I carry with me in everything I do.
“Modern beauty queens are extremely successful women, and it’s not unusual to find lawyers, teachers, doctors, business owners, mothers, and more as part of the pageant community,” she adds.
Far from being just a crown and sash, Gallagher sees her role as a way to amplify voices and values that matter. “As soon as you put the crown and sash on, everyone wants to know who you are and what you do,” she says. “It’s quite amazing to experience.”
And what she does – from education to advocacy, op shop finds to UN collaborations – might just change the way we think about fashion, one outfit at a time.
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